Summary
Path of Exile 2’sstart has been a fairly tumultuous one. The game’s launch was so big,it broke SteamDB, but problems have plagued the game since, withthe cost of respecs, lack of rewards, and its underwhelming and repetitive endgame all coming under fire.
It’s the issues that have seen the game hemorrhage players, with its average player count of over 300,000 in December dropping to just over 100,000. It seems, for now at least, a big portion of those players have hopped back onto the originalPath of Exile.
Path of Exile’s Player Count Spikes As Sequel’s Drops Drastically
According toSteamDB, at the time of writing, 53,513 players were playing Path of Exile 2, and 44,042 were playing the original title, a difference of a little over 9,000. Within the last 24 hours, Path of Exile’s peak player count actually exceeded that of Path of Exile 2, with the original hitting 91,948 players and the follow-up 87,147.
It’s a far cry from how things were last month. In January, Path of Exile 2 hit a peak player count of 353,966. Path of Exile barely managed 13,000. This means that Path of Exile 2’s peak has dropped by a whopping 75 percent in the past month, while Path of Exile’s peak has increased by over 600.
Path of Exile 2’s peak has dropped by a whopping 75 percent in the past month, while Path of Exile’s peak has increased by over 600.
While player unhappiness can certainly be attributed to part of PoE 2’s downfall, a major new event in PoE is likely to have been a big draw for players.
The Legacy of Phrecia event has introduced a new class ascendancy, which players speculate is a trial ahead of a Path of Exile 2 release, something developers Grinding Gear Games have denied, plus a new league mechanic that runs for around a month.
It’s unclear whether Path of Exile will continue to siphon players away from the recently released sequel, but this trend has to be a concern to the series' creators.
