Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind the Path of Exile series, has issued an apology to fans of the original game following a significant delay in its next update. Path of Exile 1, a beloved action RPG that has been thriving for over a decade, was promised continuous updates even after the release of Path of Exile 2. However, the highly anticipated 3.26 update, initially slated for late October and then rescheduled for mid-February, has been postponed indefinitely as the studio focuses on resolving critical issues with Path of Exile 2.
The last league update for Path of Exile 1, Settlers of Kalguur, was released in July 2024. In a candid video message, Jonathan Rogers, game director of Path of Exile 2 and co-founder of Grinding Gear Games, explained that the team originally assigned to Path of Exile 1 was reassigned to help refine Path of Exile 2's endgame before its December launch. The hope was that the team could return in time to prepare the 3.26 update, but the complexity of Path of Exile 2's issues made this impossible.
"We were fooling ourselves," Rogers admitted, acknowledging the severity of Path of Exile 2's problems, including crashes and balance issues that demanded immediate attention. He justified the decision to keep the experienced developers on Path of Exile 2, saying, "How could I justify taking some of the most experienced developers we have off PoE2 when it’s on fire?"
The Path of Exile 1 team will remain focused on Path of Exile 2 until at least the release of version 0.2.0, and likely a few weeks beyond that. Rogers expressed regret over the situation, admitting, "I’m really sorry for how this went down. Honestly, I should have predicted the fact that taking the Path of Exile 1 team off Path of Exile 1 would lead to this outcome, and I probably should have resisted doing it."
He further acknowledged the challenges of managing two games simultaneously and the need for the studio to learn and adapt. "We still have a lot to learn about how to run two games simultaneously. We were overconfident. We still need to work out how to structure our studio to make this possible. But we do have a solid plan for what we want to do with 3.26."
Path of Exile 2 finally launched in early access on December 6, 2024, across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, achieving remarkable success by becoming the 15th most-played game on Steam ever. For those diving into Path of Exile 2, guides on class selection, early builds for Mercenary and Sorceress, as well as tips on acquiring Spirit, trading, and ascending, are available to help players get started.
