Path of Exile 2 Faces Crisis — Players Returning to the Original

After a highly anticipated launch, Path of Exile 2 is now mired in a serious crisis. Nearly a year after entering early access, Grinding Gear Games has seen a sharp decline in active Steam users, and the sequel already lags behind its predecessor.

According to SteamDB, the original Path of Exile — released 12 years ago — records more than 115,000 concurrent players today, while the sequel peaked at roughly 20,000, or about one-sixth of the original’s numbers.

That gap is striking given that Path of Exile 2 opened with 578,000 concurrent players. However, a lack of content and a slow development pace gradually pushed the community away. After patch 0.3 — which added a fourth act and temporarily lifted the player count to around 300,000 — the title began losing its audience again. The downward trend has persisted since.

The first Path of Exile remains popular. The Keepers of the Flame update, released on October 31, boosted player numbers from about 10,000 to over 185,000 in the days following its launch. This substantial, well-crafted expansion showed that the original still provides deep content and a stable game ecosystem.

Path of Exile 2 is still in early access and could recover player confidence, but development needs to accelerate. The community is calling for additional acts, improved balance, and more varied gameplay. Current estimates suggest a full release is unlikely in 2025, with patch 0.4 not expected until 2026.

Source: iXBT.games