The Path of Exile 2 early access release date was just announced at Gamescom. Grinding Gear Games has confirmed that it will be available on November 15, 2024. Players who can access this test phase will be able to try out the game for the first time. It's unclear how one can get access to it, but the developer is expected to provide more details soon.
POE 2 is the hotly awaited sequel to Grinding Gear Games' global hit ARPG. This game has managed to do what many thought impossible before, overtaking Blizzard's Diablo.
POE is known for its convoluted skill trees and spreadsheet-heavy builds. Thanks to its reputation among the ARPG community, players are greatly anticipating what its sequel will do for the genre.
In this article, we're going to outline everything we know about the POE 2 Early Access, as well as what we know so far about the base game.
Path of Exile 2 Early Access date confirmed
At Gamescom, Grinding Gear Games officially announced that Path of Exile 2 Early Access will go live on November 15, 2024. Unfortunately, not much else was said, and most of the footage revealed had already been seen by the public before.
GGG has not given any direct details on how fans can get access to this early release. It might be granted by purchasing a supporter pack or pre-order.
Read More: Last Epoch vs Path of Exile: Which is the better ARPG?
New features in Path of Exile 2
With the upgrade from POE to POE 2 comes a host of changes. These range from purely visual to deep mechanical updates, so fans of the first game will have a lot to learn when the sequel releases.
Here are some of the major changes that GGG has confirmed for POE 2:
- Players can Dodge Roll
- New Resource "Spirit"
- Death
- No longer lose EXP in the campaign
- Reservations no longer de-activate
- Bosses have checkpoints before them
- Dead members of your group can be revived
- Skills and Abilities
- Skills can be turned mid-animation
- Added unique skill animations
- Minions can be commanded manually
- Stun can become "Heavy Stun"
- Stats
- Hit Chance now depends on the enemy distance
- Culling Strike breakpoints altered
- Leech percentages simplified
Also Read: Last Epoch vs Path of Exile: 5 biggest differences between the two ARPGs
Platforms availability for Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile has been available on consoles for a while now, and many who don't play on PC are hoping POE 2 will be the same. Thankfully for console fans, the sequel will be available on all the same platforms. It will also have cross-save and cross-platform play available, as well as a "couch co-op" game mode.
Grinding Gear Games has also stated that the Early Access release will launch simultaneously across platforms. Here's the list of platforms POE 2 will be available on:
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X/S
- PC
It's also worth noting that POE 2 will not be available on older-generation consoles, such as the PlayStation 4.