Path of Exile 2 might not get its full release till March 2026

In a pre-release Q&A in November 2024, Path of Exile 2 game director Jonathan Rogers said that he didn't want to spend "more than a year" in Early Access. Although there has never been any certain finish line for its full release, this comment made a vague goalpost of patch 1.0 by December 2025.

However, it seems that's less likely to happen now. It's still a possibility that we get to see the game hit 1.0 by next year, but GGG is less confident in that possibility than they were initially. In a recent Eurogamer interview, Jonathan actually quantified their confidence: 65% likelihood that we do get it this year. He said:

"I think it is quite possible... but not, like, 90 percent. I'm thinking a 65 percent chance of getting it done this year. That's my current feeling about it. I have a schedule that will get us there. It's a question of can we actually meet that schedule, which will be challenging but not impossible."

Path of Exile 2 needs time in the oven, but so do new seasons for the first game

It's not easy juggling two live-service ARPGs (Image via GGG)

Path of Exile 2's development has the benefit of shipping a 0.1.0 patch (the day-one version of Early Access) with a solid framework to build upon. Even in its first iteration of a public patch, it might compare to a full-featured product (albeit bogged down by a tedious Endgame grind).

However, its ambitions for a full release are also sky-high. GGG will have to not only fill in the dots with five more classes (not counting the Huntress) but introduce and balance many more weapon types to fulfil its scope. This also does not count the remaining half of the campaign, which is a placeholder repeat run for now.

The original timeline for a possible 2025 release of Path of Exile 2 patch 1.0 was more hopeful not just because of the developer's admission of "65%" faith. Since Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch, one big factor that has come into play is how this cuts into the maintenance for the first game.

As Path of Exile 1's Settlers of Kalguur League went on for over six months, GGG put out an explanation, saying:

"Now we still have a lot to learn about how to run two games simultaneously. We were overconfident. We still need to work out how to structure our studio to make this possible."

The developers are certainly putting their new game first, seeing as how it was an instant money-maker with a million key sales for its paywalled Early Access. Yet, after Path of Exile 2's upcoming patch 0.2.0 goes live, the developers will have to blow the dust off the original game and work on its next League.

In the same interview where Jonathan put down the 65% chance marker, he also explained the plan B, should they fail to meet the 2025 deadline. Even if Path of Exile 2 doesn't hit the 1.0 patch this year, the goalpost will only stretch for about three or four months.

The new de facto endpoint for our expectations is March 2026, as the game director said:

""If it wasn't December, it would be March kind of thing."

There is, of course, no guarantees on anything. While GGG now has a functional schedule, there's no saying what course this brand-new hit ARPG takes. After all, we still have eight major patches to count before the petals run out.

Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Sambit Pal is an esports Journalist on Gaming and MMO at Sportskeeda. He has Master's degree in English Literature. In his spare time, he is an amateur sleuth trying to trace the Riven Mafia in Warframe, and a recovering Bethesda modding addict. He also secretly enjoys action Roguelites, a severe lack of gitting gud notwithstanding.

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Edited by Aatreyee Aich