Path of Exile 2 Early Access Period Has Begun (But be Prepared for Bumps)

Path of Exile 2 has officially launched into early access on PC and consoles, bringing the aRPG to a massively eager audience. As with most live service games, the launch hasn’t been the smoothest so far. But that may have something to do with the one million early access key redemptions, which far exceeded the predictions of Grinding Gear Games.

In fact, the team put out a warning yesterday stating that queues were likely to be commonplace throughout launch weekend, despite a last-minute server expansion. Those concerns have been mirrored in today’s launch, which has seen server disconnects, extended login queues and even database wipes. The team has been working diligently to stabilize Path of Exile 2 services for the ever-growing flood of players waiting to get in as the workday begins spilling into the weekend.

Needless to say, the team is suffering from success. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Those who have managed to get in are reporting back with near-unanimous positive remarks. In fact, Path of Exile 2 already hosts a “Mostly Positive” score on Steam across more than five thousand reviews. At the time of writing, there are roughly 440,000 players in-game on Steam alone—how many of these players are actually in-game versus at the login screen is unknown. It’s an impressive number nonetheless, one that far surpasses the first game’s all-time peak of 230,000 on Valve’s platform.

The team at Grinding Gear Games has been extremely communicative about the troubles they are tackling as they arise, a refreshing change from the silence that often accompanies such issues, and you can stay informed via their regular X (formerly Twitter) posts. If you’re interested in diving into the early access period for Path of Exile 2, you can pick up a key on PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, with editions ranging from $30 to $100.

Keep in mind that Path of Exile 2 will be free-to-play upon exiting early access, which is expected to exceed six months, and purchases made now are simply to dive in sooner with some added cosmetic and item bonuses. As long as you’re okay battling login queues and other potential development bugs, it’s sounding like a good time for fans of the genre.