Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with spectacularly successful launch weekends. Discover the incredible milestones achieved by these two titles!
A Half-Million Strong Player Base
A Weekend of Gaming Triumphs
The weekend saw the triumphant launches of two highly anticipated games, each boasting an impressive 500,000 players on their respective launch days. Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PVP arena shooter, opened its doors on December 6th. The action RPG Path of Exile 2 followed closely, launching in Early Access on December 7th.
Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch was nothing short of phenomenal, peaking at 578,569 concurrent players on Steam alone. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the paid Early Access model. The game's launch day also saw over 1 million Twitch viewers simultaneously tuning in. The sheer volume of players even temporarily overwhelmed SteamDB, the database tracking Steam game statistics, leading to a humorous acknowledgement from SteamDB itself.
Even prior to launch, Path of Exile 2 surpassed 1 million pre-orders, a number that rapidly climbed in the hours leading up to release. This unprecedented surge of players purchasing Early Access passes necessitated a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to manage the influx of traffic. Despite this expansion, some players experienced disconnections and login issues, encountering lengthy queues to join the game. This highlights the immense anticipation surrounding the game's release.
Read Game8's review of Path of Exile 2's Early Access version!