Is It Really Possible That Path Of Exile 2 Version 1.0 Will Be Released In 2025?

Grinding Gear Games, Path of Exile 2's developer, announced a 65% chance of a full release in 2025 following the recent 0.2.0 early access update media conference.

This frank statement is surprising. But he also added that the problem is that he is not sure whether it can be completed on time. It is challenging, but not impossible. But if the game cannot be released this year, we will not have to wait too long.

The technical aspects are enough to make people doubt it. Just to complete the remaining main story chapters, five new classes, and the unannounced end-game system, the development team has only eight months left. It is very urgent. And this is only assuming that the scale of the other updates is similar to the current one. What's more, the developer said that some updates will be even larger.

However, the developer has its own development strategy that can ensure efficiency and speed. Maybe they have several teams advancing core modules such as plot, classes, and end-game gameplay in parallel.

The current situation that only 7/12 classes are available in the Early Access version is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of developers. Although Huntress has already appeared, the development progress of the remaining five classes varies greatly. Some have completed the skill framework, while others are still in the concept design stage.

Even more difficult is the class balance issue. For example, when someone uses the recently released Huntress with an excellent build made with enough PoE 2 Currency, the damage caused is amazing. This makes some players worry that there will be an imbalance in class strength and destroy the fairness of the game. However, there is no need to worry too much about this problem for the time being, because the game will be optimized and improved later.

But each class has a unique growth logic, which is like solving six differential equations at the same time. It is not easy to do these problems well at the same time. This also shows that the challenges faced by developers are great. Therefore, I suspect that players may not see the full 12 classes when the full version is released.

Many players also do not trust GGG to launch the full version in 2025. In the voting post on the official forum, less than half of the players believe that GGG can deliver on time. This skepticism is also justified, because a season update of POE was postponed, which led to a drop in the praise rate. Now facing the larger POE 2, players are also very skeptical about this 65% probability.

But GGG's announcement of the 65% probability is not completely groundless. They have a large team developing Act 4, but we can't see it. And there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes. In addition, there are many monsters and other content that are semi-finished products that have been completed but not yet completed, just waiting to be completed and presented to the players. They should speed up this process and bring extra surprises to everyone as soon as possible.

From a macro perspective, the development dilemma of Path of Exile 2 is also a challenge for the entire game industry. When players' demand for game content and quality increases significantly, and new games emerge in an endless stream, the traditional development model is no longer sustainable. Developers need to consider a new and efficient development model. Behind the 65% is the hard work of countless people, and it is also a challenge for developers.

In any case, the race between developers and time will be revealed in December this year, and we will wait and see.