To be honest, since the release of the sequel, POE 1 has been a little sluggish, and the suspension of updates for more than 10 months is unprecedented, because the developers have been busy with the development and release of PoE 2, which makes it difficult to continue the development of the original work, and the original planned update time has been postponed again and again.
These situations have caused complaints from old players. After all, the reason why PoE 2 has achieved such great success after its release is that the cornerstone lies in the good reputation accumulated by the original work over the years.
However, on the one hand, the number of online players of the sequel has been declining, and on the other hand, the old players are calling for PoE 3.26 more and more. Secrets of the Atlas expansion was finally officially released on June 13, and players flocked to it!
The Number Of Players Of POE 3.26 Exceeds The Sequel
So, will the restart after a long period of suspension of updates restore PoE 1 to its former peak? Facts and data tell us that of course it can!
In fact, within 24 hours of the 3.26 League Update for Path of Exile, the action-RPG had over 150,000 live players online on Steam! If you don’t have an idea of that, you’ll see the difference in comparison, as Path of Exile 2 peaked at around 20,000 people a day after its initial release. Such incredible popularity tells everyone that the original has never been forgotten.
Currently, a week after its release, Path of Exile 1 still has 80,000-90,000 active players per day, and these numbers show how important Path of Exile 1 still is to players even with the sequel released and in ongoing development.
The original action-RPG, the spiritual successor to Diablo 2, has been around for over a decade since its initial release and continues to prove that it’s still a favorite among players, even compared to its sequel. What’s more, with major adjustments to the endgame and the addition of Mercenaries League, now is a great time to experience Path of Exile 1.
Why Was The 3.26 Update So Successful?
The highly anticipated 3.26 update brings a lot of exciting content to players, including a major endgame overhaul and a new Mercenaries of Trarthus league, which includes 40 core and 8 ruthless challenges, as well as several new unique items.
More importantly, this is another new Atlas expansion nearly 3 years after 3.17. I believe every old player knows that every Atlas expansion update in the past has reshaped our worldview and brought us an unprecedented gaming experience. This update is no exception. 3.26 now has a new POE currency mechanism, pinnacle boss, mapping and progress adjustments, which will help new players get started quickly.
In addition, this update also brings some skill balance adjustments and brings significant experience improvements. Pause system in the game is one of the important new features.
In the past, once a player joined the game, there was no way to stop the game midway unless it was completely shut down. This means that if you encounter any temporary situation that must be dealt with while playing the game, you can only choose to give up your life or lose your partner. To be honest, this greatly affects the gaming experience.
Now, though, players can pause the game by pressing Esc key on PC or opening the menu on consoles. The game can even be paused during an online session, as long as each player chooses to join.
So, perhaps because 3.26 is back after such a long time, and it carries so much anticipation, thousands of players continue to delve into PoE 1, or perhaps because it is the biggest update in recent years, in any case it clearly shows that despite PoE 2, the original is still a strong competitor in ARPG ranks.
What Can Developers Do To Improve PoE 1?
But, we all know that because of the release of Path of Exile 2 Early Access and the subsequent large amount of work required for the endgame, the developers had to reallocate PoE 1 resources to deal with all the problems and feedback that came up, which was the main reason that hindered the team from developing PoE 3.26.
The developers also said that they still have a lot to learn about running two games at the same studio. But to be honest, this is not something that can be solved overnight. Is it really possible to ensure that these two games can keep pace with each other, show completely different styles in the action RPG genre, and cater to different audiences just by temporarily forming a development team?
I highly doubt it. Therefore, in my opinion, if developers do not want to ruin both games, they must improve their workflow and manage their employees better. Transferring employees from one project to another simply does not work.
In addition, during the development of the sequel, it is crucial for developers to ensure that the original game continues to receive updates and improvements, especially in terms of performance and user experience. In particular, there have been frequent complaints from players that the animation effects of POE are flying around during combat, and even the basic buff and debuff icons cannot be seen clearly, which seriously affects the actual experience.
Therefore, ensuring that user interface elements are always visible and easy to read, as well as related game interface optimization, is always the focus of developers.
In short, these issues need to be addressed if developers want to significantly improve the gaming experience of POE 1 players and ensure its longevity and higher playability.
In any case, although the release of the sequel has attracted the attention of some players, more old players still have expectations for the original game, and the 3.26 update is also telling everyone why POE 1 has been able to stand firm in ARPG ranks for decades through its own new features and new content that change the rules.
