Key Takeaways
- Path of Exile 2’s early access launch has proven so popular that it managed to break SteamDB, thanks to so many people checking for its release.
- On top of that, it set an all-time peak player count of 459,263 on Steam, which is the 23rd best in Steam’s entire history.
- That’s also double the all-time peak player count of the first Path of Exile, proving that developer Grinding Gear has the fans on board.
Path of Exile 2 was poised to be one of Steam’s most played games ever shortly before its early access launch today, as developer Grinding Gear Games announced not too long ago that a whopping one million keys had been registered before the game was even available to play. That was both great and bad news, as while more players is always a good thing, there were far more players than the devs anticipated.
That led to a rather rocky early access launch earlier today, as Grinding Gear Games was working up until the very last second to get the game shipshape and ready to play. With literally millions of people waiting to jump in, there were a lot of very fidgety fans waiting for news, and doing anything to try and get it.
Once director Jonathan Rogers let fans know that the game’s launch was “relatively imminent”, there was a flurry of players checking everywhere to see whether the game had launched. One of the first stops to do that was SteamDB, but it’s been claimed by the site that so many people rushed to the game’s page for updates that it actually broke the entire site. That’s how many people we’re talking about here.
Path Of Exile 2 Has Doubled The First Game’s Peak Player Count
With that many people doing their best Eric Andre impression and screaming “LET ME IN”, it was inevitable that the game’s player numbers would shoot up like a rocket. Unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what’s happened, as Path of Exile 2 has managed to set a whopper of an all-time peak player count of 459,263, which is the 23rd best in Steam’s entire history.
Not only that, Path of Exile 2’s all-time peak player count is almost exactly double the all-time peak player count for the first Path of Exile, having set a record of 229,337 in July earlier this year. It’s a very good indicator of just how good of a job Grinding Gear has done to keep fans on board and market their game properly.
With Path of Exile 2’s early access launch, it seems as though developers of free-to-play games are having a particularly enjoyable time at the moment, with Marvel Rivals also exploding onto the scene earlier today too, managing to launch to an equally impressive all-time peak player count of 444,286. Better watch your back, Overwatch, there’s a new kid in town.
Path of Exile 2 is a major sequel to the hit free-to-play ARPG from Grinding Gear Games. It will add a new story in the continent of Wraeclast, new ascendancy classes, and reworked systems.