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

Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with spectacularly successful launch weekends. Discover the incredible milestones achieved!

A Half-Million Strong Player Base

A Weekend of Record-Breaking Launches

This past weekend saw the simultaneous release of two highly anticipated games, each attracting a staggering 500,000 players on their respective launch days. Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PVP arena shooter, debuted on December 6th, followed by Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch on December 7th.

Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch on Steam alone peaked at an impressive 578,569 concurrent players. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the paid Early Access model. Twitch viewership for the game exceeded 1 million on launch day. The game's immense popularity even temporarily overwhelmed SteamDB, the database tracking Steam statistics, resulting in a humorous public acknowledgment from SteamDB itself.

Prior to launch, Path of Exile 2 had already surpassed 1 million pre-orders, a number that rapidly climbed in the hours leading up to the game's release. The unexpected influx of players purchasing Early Access prompted a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to handle the massive traffic. Despite this expansion, players experienced temporary disconnections and login queues, highlighting the exceptional anticipation surrounding the game's release.

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