Is Path of Exile pay-to-win in 2024?

Despite being a fairly complex game, Path of Exile is incredibly approachable as a free-to-play title. As such, many people ask before they get started if it’s pay-to-win, even in 2024. Unfortunately, gamers usually have different definitions of what P2W is. I’ve played a fair amount of PoE myself and have covered free-to-play games for nearly 10 years. With that in mind, I feel like I have the experience to say definitively if this particular game is pay-to-win or not.

In Path of Exile, players create one of several character classes and have access to a skill tree with about 1200 nodes and regular content updates. Fortunately, players don’t have to spend anything on the game when it comes to content - that’s all free. There are occasional free content drops on Twitch as well. But is this action MMO really pay-to-win? Let’s look into it.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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Is Path of Exile a pay-to-win MMORPG in 2024?

The most important element here is to determine how we define a “pay-to-win” game when it pertains to Path of Exile. After all, some people think P2W is a fairly vague term, but it isn’t. When it comes to free online games, if spending real money gives you an advantage over other players in terms of power, that would make the game pay-to-win.

Simply having microtransactions doesn’t make Path of Exile a pay-to-win game. Clearly, a free-to-play game has to make money somewhere, and the difference is how such games are monetized. I’ve played MMOs in the past where people could spend real money to get powerful weapons or increased stats. Luckily, none of that happens in Grinding Gear Games’ hit MMORPG.

Do any of the items that you can pay for in Path of Exile grant you an advantage in combat? Absolutely not. They are purely cosmetic in nature or offer convenience, such as greater storage capacity. In my years playing this game, I’ve only spent about 20 dollars or so to get better storage for my travels.

PoE enemies drop tons of loot, after all, and so you want to hold onto as much of it as possible. You can purchase Mystery Boxes as well, which reward you with cosmetics from the current league that's available in the game. Finally, you can spend money on the Vault Pass, which grants only cosmetics and nothing that could give the player more power.

So, officially, Path of Exile is certainly not a pay-to-win game. Players cannot spend real money to gain any kind of advantage, crafting materials, or powerful weapons in the game. At least, that’s what I want to say. There are places on the internet where players can spend real money to buy powerful gear, useful crafting materials, and things of that nature.

As expected, this is a bannable offense in Path of Exile. The developers take it very seriously, but it’s still very much something that happens in the game. But does that make the MMO pay-to-win? Absolutely not, as it's not something that occurs within the game.

Are there things that you could buy to make your experience better? There absolutely are. Having more inventory space is useful, but it’s far from required. You don't need to spend any money on this game to have a great time. While the stash tab microtransactions do make grinding through maps more convenient, it doesn’t really grant you any real advantage over other players.

As such, there are plenty of pay-to-win games on the market, if that’s what you’re into. But if you want to know if Path of Exile is one of them in 2024, it most certainly is not.