PoE2 and Marvel Rivals Sets Gaming World Ablaze with Successful Weekend Launch

Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with incredibly successful launch weekends. Let's delve into the impressive numbers.

A Phenomenal Launch Weekend

The weekend saw a remarkable double launch, with both games attracting a staggering 500,000 players each on their respective release days. Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PVP arena shooter, debuted on December 6th. Path of Exile 2, an action RPG, followed closely on December 7th, entering Early Access.

Path of Exile 2's Triumphant Start

Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch was nothing short of spectacular. It peaked at 578,569 concurrent players on Steam alone, a truly impressive achievement for a paid Early Access title. Twitch viewership for the game exceeded 1 million on launch day. The game's immense popularity even briefly overwhelmed SteamDB, the database site tracking Steam statistics, leading to a humorous public acknowledgment from SteamDB itself.

Pre-Launch Success and Server Strain

Even before its release, Path of Exile 2 had already surpassed 1 million sales, a number that rapidly climbed in the hours leading up to launch. This unprecedented influx of players purchasing Early Access necessitated a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to handle the massive traffic. Despite this expansion, some players experienced disconnections and login issues, highlighting the game's highly anticipated nature and the resulting server strain.

Read Game8's review of Path of Exile 2's Early Access version!