New Zealand’s Path of Exile online game scores 2M players in 2 months

path of exile

This is an impressive start. Auckland, New Zealand’s Grinding Gear Games said it has scored 2 million registered beta players since Jan. 23 for its Path of Exile online action role-playing game.

The free-to-play RPG launched its open beta test on Jan. 23, and it has quickly gathered momentum among PC gamers. The title is already one of the most popular new PC game releases of 2013, and it is on schedule to be officially launched in September.

“We’re really pleased with Path of Exile’s reception. It blew our expectations out of the water and continues to grow every day,” said Chris Wilson, the producer for Grinding Gear Games. “The continued feedback and support from our fans has been great. We expect to add a lot of new content and features during the open-beta period as we approach full release later this year.”

Grinding Gear Games is updating its content update every week. In the game, players enter the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast, which is designed around a strong barter-based online item economy. It has deep character customization, competitive player-versus-player combat, and lots of levels to climb for six different kinds of characters. The combat is furious. Some fans have contributed $1,000 for the chance to be involved in the development of a virtual item. Path of Exile lets players purchase virtual items, but they can’t pay to win.

Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.