Path of Exile, a popular action-RPG that’s been out for almost a decade, is more popular than ever, beating its previous concurrent player record by a whopping 50,000 players. This is partly due to a huge new update and partly because the Diablo 4 beta is over and people are desperately looking for something to fill the void.
Path of Exile: Crucible hit a new record of 321,180 concurrent players, beating our previous record by over 50,000 concurrent players. Thanks so much to everyone who has joined us so far. pic.twitter.com/9aaVPe9el1April 7, 2023
First and foremost, to suggest Path of Exile is merely a stopgap for Diablo 4 is to criminally sell it short. While it’s undoubtedly inspired by the Diablo games of yesteryear, particularly those releases before 2012’s Diablo 3, it’s very much carved out its own identity in its long and consistent lifespan with multiple substantial free updates and a dedicated player base.
Furthermore, I’m not suggesting that Diablo 4 is the only reason Path of Exile is seeing a boost in active players as of late. Looking at its Steam chart (opens in new tab), which isn’t representative of the complete picture since Path of Exile is available on other platforms, it’s clear the big Crucible expansion has had a massive effect. That said, there’s no denying that there’s an influx of players checking out the game after being locked out of the Diablo 4 beta.
Many of them are proudly outing themselves on social media, and most of the newcomers are thrilled to have found such a worthy alternative.
“I’m one of the new players,” wrote a Redditor called Anomalistics (opens in new tab). “Scratched that itch recently with Diablo 3. Went through the story with a friend and the farmed endgame to T16. Heard PoE is the shit and so far I’ve been loving it.”
Returning Path of Exile player and a Redditor going by Drublic (opens in new tab) wrote: “I haven’t played poe in a year and a half. Diablo beta got me in the mood.”
“Started playing to scratch a Diablo itch, now I’m forever seeking something to itch my poe scratch,” said Steam user Ricta (opens in new tab).
Path of Exile: Crucible is a jam-packed expansion with revamps to several classes, endgame improvements, new skills and items, and loads more. It’s definitely not a bad time to check it out, especially since we haven’t heard news on Path of Exile 2 for some time.
Diablo 4, on the other hand, launches on June 6, but you probably already knew that.
For some reason I suspect this list of games like Diablo might come in handy to a few of y’all right now.