Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with phenomenal weekend launches, attracting a massive player base. Let's delve into the details of this impressive achievement.
A Half-Million Strong Debut
A Weekend of Record-Breaking Launches
The weekend saw the triumphant arrival of two highly anticipated titles: Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PVP arena shooter, launched on December 6th; and Path of Exile 2, an action RPG entering Early Access on December 7th. Both games welcomed an astonishing 500,000 players each on their respective launch days.
Path of Exile 2, available in paid Early Access, achieved a remarkable peak of 578,569 concurrent players on Steam alone – a truly impressive accomplishment. The game's launch day Twitch viewership soared past 1 million, highlighting its immense popularity. The influx of players was so significant it temporarily overwhelmed SteamDB, the database tracking Steam statistics, a situation humorously acknowledged by SteamDB itself.
Prior to launch, Path of Exile 2 had already surpassed 1 million pre-orders, a number that rapidly increased in the hours leading up to release. This unprecedented demand forced the developers to implement a last-minute database upgrade to handle the massive influx of players. Despite these efforts, some players encountered login issues and disconnections, highlighting the game's overwhelming popularity and the challenges of managing such a significant surge in players.
Read Game8's review of Path of Exile 2's Early Access version!
