Path Of Exile 2 In 2021 Probably Not Available
Well, right now, all we can expect is a launch date for Path of Exile 2 later this year, but probably not too much else.
Here comes quite sad news, those aRPG (Action Role-Playing Game) fans quite eager to get their hands on Path of Exile 2 probably shouldn't hold their breath, because, you know, the ambitious sequel-expansion Path of Exile 2 seems unlikely to release this year. During a phone interview about the upcoming endgame expansion for the original Path of Exile, the CEO of the Grinding Gear Games Chris Wilson got to talking about how the Coronavirus pandemic has already affected the headquarter studio in New Zealand.
Chris Wilson said that "I do not want to blame COVID-19 for stuff, however, that is a big section of it at the moment. We have had difficulty in hiring internationally because the borders to New Zealand are closed right now, therefore, that has curtailed the exponential growth of our asset creation team a little bit. Moreover, the progress of development hasn't been as quick as we hoped, and so our aim is to bash as hard as we can during 2021 on Path of Exile 2 stuff and see how much headway we could make. We are struggling to get as much done as possible, and that will offer us a better idea of a good launch date we can estimate, which should be towards the end of the year."
When he was asked for clarification about whether Path of Exile 2 would probably release sometime in 2022, Chris Wilson firmly said, "Yep, I think that's accurate." Moreover, he also mentioned that working from home during lockdowns, you know, to some extent, must've had slowed production on the past few major updates. Nothing catastrophic, however, it was one of the main factors in the upcoming expansion being delayed slightly."
However, it's not all doom and gloom for Path of Exile fans. Path of Exile: Echoes of the Atlas expansion, which will be launching January 15th, 2021 is set to bring a bundle of brand new environments to the game's expansive endgame, several using assets from the sequel (more than just Path of Exile Currency asset), along with some brand new bosses evoking Path of Exile 2's new aesthetic. You know it's a quite small taste of things to come, which might help bridge the gap when Path of Exile 2 finally launches, as, just like Chris Wilson said both campaigns will share the very same endgame content.
Path of Exile: Echoes of the Atlas league is, however, probably to be the largest update PoE sees this year because Grinding Gear mainly focuses on Path of Exile 2 production. Even though the quarterly updates and League events will still continue according to schedule, they might be a little less ambitious for a while. Anyway, having already played and enjoyed an early build of Path of Exile 2 when it was firstly unveiled at Exilecon in November 2019, I think it'll be worth the wait.
For you, right now, if you want to get to know more about Path of Exile: Echoes of the Atlas, you can check out our full trailer below.