The head of Path of Exile 2 already commented on the future of its predecessor before the release, and now it becomes clear what he meant back then.
Even before Path of Exile 2 was officially released, media representatives had the opportunity to speak with the head, Jonathan Rogers. In an open Q&A session, I was able to ask him some questions, including what the future of Path of Exile (1) looks like.
“Will Path of Exile 1 go into maintenance mode when Path of Exile 2 is released? And how long do you plan to support PoE 1 after the launch of PoE 2?”
Without hesitation, he replied that Path of Exile (1) will receive updates, new leagues, and support as long as it has players. He further explained, “I believe both games can coexist well.” The predecessor does not have to die for Path of Exile 2 to thrive.
I couldn’t quite believe that at first, after all, it is quite common for new games to replace their predecessors. A week after the release, however, I am slowly beginning to understand what he meant.
Here you can see how the bosses in Path of Exile 2 are created:
More and more players understand it
It seems that more and more players are realizing that Path of Exile 2 and its predecessor are indeed more different than initially assumed. Be it that the difficulty is on a completely different level and rather reminds of Dark Souls.
Or that the loot for professionals from the first part is a flaw in an otherwise fantastic game. The speed with which one traverses the large levels is also much slower than in the first part. There is a lack of good movement skills and utility flasks that let one run through the early acts.
All of this conveys a different gaming feeling that does not appeal to everyone. Some of the veterans and professionals from Path of Exile (1) currently seem dissatisfied with the direction that the developers from Grinding Gear Games have chosen for Path of Exile 2. This appears to be exactly the difference that Jonathan Rogers indirectly foretold to me in the interview.
Both games have a future
Path of Exile 2 will probably always remain the harder game, more oriented towards Dark Souls, which appeals to a completely different audience thanks to dodge rolls and tough boss fights.
Path of Exile (1), on the other hand, will likely regain some of its loyal players after the hype surrounding its successor, who prefer the original gameplay style.
With the successor, the developers have not only created a competitive product but also a new game with a new approach, aimed at a different type of player.
If in the future the seasons of both Path of Exile games start at staggered times, both games will likely have a large player base and a strong future. Even the head of Diablo 4 wants to play Path of Exile 2 over the holidays: Path of Exile 2 is currently 45x larger than Diablo 4 on Steam, and even the head is now gaming with the competition
