Path of Exile, the action RPG from Grinding Gear Games, is clearly enjoying a renaissance on Steam.
Yesterday, at the hottest time of the day, 144,193 people were playing PoE on Steam, and last Friday’s activity record was 167,593 concurrent players.
For comparison, a week ago the weekend activity record was about 15,000 people playing simultaneously on Steam.
This sharp jump in popularity is associated with the release of a new major update, which introduced a free expansion for the game called Affliction.
Among other things, the expansion offers a new challenge league, allowing us to visit the Viridian Wild Forest, which has fallen victim to a mysterious infection. A large set of previously unavailable items has also been added, a gem transfiguration system has been implemented, and three new Ascendancy classes have been implemented. The Ultimatum mechanic, beloved by many, has also returned – the deadly trials of Baal ordered by the servant of Chaos, the Master of Fates. The more risks you take during challenges, the potentially better the reward you will receive.
It’s worth adding that Affliction did not set a new record for overall activity. It remains at the 211,000 concurrent players reached eight months ago by the Crucible expansion. However, the success of the latest expansion is a testament to the great state of the game, which is all the more impressive considering we’re talking about a game that celebrated its tenth anniversary this October.
Let us remind you that Path of Exile is available on PC and Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, and thanks to backward compatibility, owners of Xbox Series S/X and PS5 can also play the game. The game uses a free-to-play model with micropayments.
