We may not play PoE 2 for free in 2025. Devs avoid promises as upcoming big update was „extremely stressful”
According to the Path of Exile 2 director, the chances of releasing version 1.0 on the previously set date are very slim.
When Path of Exile 2 entered paid early access in December last year, the developers assumed that the release of version 1.0 and the transition to a free-to-play model could happen after "at least 6 months." However, it appears that reality has rather harshly tested the plans of Grinding Gear Games.
The game director and co-founder of the studio, Jonathan Rogers, recently gave an interview to the editorial staff of PCGamer, in which he admitted that he still hopes to end early access in 2025, but "it may take a little more time."
In terms of the overall time, I think we're still broadly on track. Initially, before we kind of got to the crunch period, we were sort of saying six months in early access, which in retrospect was not going to happen. My current feeling is kind of a year of early access. Like, I want to get it done this year, but we'll see how things go. I mean, maybe it'll take a little bit of extra time, but I'm hoping - said Rogers.
In a conversation with Eurogamer's editorial team, the developer revealed that he would be "very disappointed" if Path of Exile 2 doesn't leave early access this year. Nevertheless, the chances that the worst-case scenario will come true aren't that small.
I think it is quite possible, but not, like, 90 percent. I'm thinking a 65 percent chance of getting it done this year. […] I have a schedule that will get us there. It's a question of can we actually meet that schedule, which will be challenging but not impossible.
It turns out that the plan to add 6 new classes before the launch of version 1.0 is also in danger. Although Rogers hinted that he would like to add another class in each patch, the upcoming Dawn of the Hunt update was "extremely stressful" for the team due to the "absolute necessity of having the Huntress there." For this reason, the developer no longer wants to make promises that might not be fulfilled.
This is sort of very inside baseball, production-y problems, but effectively it was just kind of a pain in the ass. While I'd very much like to get a class in every new league that we do, I just don't want to promise it anymore because it just led to that situation where there was a lot of production uncertainty and we couldn't promise dates to anyone.
The mentioned update will hit PoE 2 on April 4th. Besides the character class, the patch will introduce new skills, unique items, maps, and bosses. The devs also thought about changes in runes and the Atlas tree. You can find a more detailed description of the new content on the game's website.
