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Path of Exile 2 has gone from being merely an expansion to the original Path of Exile to being a full standalone sequel. Announced at ExileCon 2019, Path of Exile was originally slated to just be an expansion to the free-to-play ARPG. With this weekend's latest reveal at ExileCon 2023, game director Jonathan Rogers says that the scope of Path of Exile 2 "continued to grow and grow."
The decision was made by the team at Grinding Gear Games because the original idea would "essentially be destroying a game that people love for no reason." Now, both Path of Exile and its sequel, Path of Exile 2, will be separate and include their own "mechanics, balance, endgames, and leagues."
"When we announced Path of Exile 2 at ExileCon 2019, we told you guys that we were releasing Path of Exile 2 as an expansion to Path of Exile 1 and that both campaigns would be playable in the same game client with a shared endgame," says Jonathan Rogers.
"But Path of Exile 2's scope has continued to grow and grow. It's far more than just an expansion with a new campaign, it's entirely new monsters, skills, mechanics, classes, everything you would expect from the next generation of action RPGs. Not to even mention revamps of most of the Path of Exile 1 league content. This thing is freaking huge."
"But Path of Exile 2's scope has continued to grow and grow. It's far more than just an expansion with a new campaign, it's entirely new monsters, skills, mechanics, classes, everything you would expect from the next generation of action RPGs. Not to even mention revamps of most of the Path of Exile 1 league content. This thing is freaking huge."
Despite this split, Grinding Gear Games say that both games will still enjoy a shared platform. Both games will be fully supported and microtransactions will persist across both titles. So everything you purchased in the first Path of Exile will be usable in Path of Exile 2.
"Everything you have ever purchased or will purchase in the future will be usable in both games unless it's hyper-specific to the content of one of them. You can't be a bear in Path of Exil 1, so a reskin of your bear form isn't going to do anything. But you absolutely can equip the awesome sword skin you got and use all your stash tabs," notes Rogers.
A beta for Path of Exile 2 is coming, but it's still almost an entire year away. Grinding Gear Games say that a beta will hopefully begin on June 7, 2024. Like the original Path of Exile, Path of Exile 2 will be free-to-play with optional microtransactions that include cosmetics and some quality-of-life additions such as additional stash tabs.
In the meantime, ARPG fans can continue to either play the original Path of Exile or they can give Diablo 4 a go, which is currently in the midst of its first season, Season of the Malignant.
Interestingly, Grinding Gear's Rogers said in an interview with IGN that they "feel bad" for the team at Blizzard given the troubles Diablo 4 has experienced surrounding this first season.
"I mean ultimately the learning process for running a live game with Seasons like this is a hard one. We've learned our lessons about how to do this stuff. Honestly, when I look at that, all I can think is, 'Man, it's tough. It's a real tough situation to be in'.
"I feel very bad for the developers, because I'm sure that they mean well, but yeah, it's a hard lesson to learn," Rogers said.
"Yes. There are times when a developer looks at a thing in their game that is too fast and they think. 'I should slow this down.' However, there is a process for that," fellow director Chris Wilson agreed.​
"I feel very bad for the developers, because I'm sure that they mean well, but yeah, it's a hard lesson to learn," Rogers said.
"Yes. There are times when a developer looks at a thing in their game that is too fast and they think. 'I should slow this down.' However, there is a process for that," fellow director Chris Wilson agreed.​
