There was some debate about what game would make the biggest impact in the last 48 hours, Marvel Rivals, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle or Path of Exile 2. Turns out all three games have been received really well, but it seems like Path of Exile 2 is going to win out due to the sheer size of the playerbase that has shown up, numbers that are still climbing as I speak.
Despite a few expected hours of delays and login issues, Path of Exile 2 went online by the end of the day and hundreds of thousands of players got to dive in, myself included. The numbers it has put up so far are stunning, it had 1.1 million Twitch viewers before the game was even online, excluding numbers from other sites like YouTube or Kick.
The game has also is about to hit 500,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, and it’s still climbing as the weekend presses on. Peaks are usually hit Sunday night, so there’s no telling where it might cap out. Those numbers already put it inside the top 20 Steam games of all time in terms of concurrents, though it needs to get all the way up to 900,000 to break the top 10, which seems challenging. But who knows.
Because of the nature of the online game with no actual review copies, no scores are in, only a half dozen “TBD” ongoing reviews. But it does have an 82% “Very Positive” score on Steam, and some of those negative reviews are no doubt tied to some of the server and connection issues. So it’s doing well.
Is the game as good as it seems? Well, I only have my own opinion here, but yes, it’s starting out strong and is thoroughly addicting. I cannot speak as an existing Path of Exile player, as I only played it briefly years ago, but for the Diablo 2 fan, this is as close to that game as you’re going to get in 2024 besides the remaster, and it’s much harder core nature which is going to please many fans who think Diablo has gone too casual in recent years (disclaimer: I still enjoy Diablo).
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the lack of difficulty options, giving it sort of a Dark Souls feel where story or optional bosses you find may crush you unless you come back later better geared and leveled to beat them. But the game isn’t that punishing, unless of course you’re playing hardcore, so it’s still accessible. Just don’t look at the skill tree.
Path of Exile 2 is a hit, and it was always going to be a hit. I’m glad to see it, and also happy to see Rivals and Indy doing so well at the same time. Great weekend for gaming all around.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
