Still in Early Access, PoE 2 Just Drew 421K Players

"We're looking to alleviate concerns about sustain of Waystones from map bosses, specifically when playing in higher tiers." That line, buried in a hotfix post from Grinding Gear Games, about where Path of Exile 2 sits right now. The game just pulled 421,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, according to SteamDB, and the studio is still mid-surgery on its endgame systems. Most games would kill for those numbers at full launch. PoE 2 is doing it while openly admitting its map sustain needs fixing.

The spike came courtesy of the Return of the Ancients update, which landed last Friday alongside a free weekend promotion. According to SteamDB, the peak hit 421,000 concurrent users, making it the most-played game on Steam over the weekend outside the usual Counter-Strike and Dota 2 fixtures. The game hadn't touched those numbers since its early access debut in December 2024, when it crossed half a million. The free weekend was also available on Xbox via the PlayStation Store and Xbox storefronts, so the real total across all platforms was almost certainly higher.

I think this is one of the more interesting success stories in early access right now. PoE 2 has an 88 average from top critics on OpenCritic with a 100% recommendation rate, and its Steam rating sits at Mostly Positive. For a game that's still missing its full campaign and won't go free-to-play until 1.0, those are remarkable numbers. Grinding Gear Games has earned a level of trust that most studios can only dream about, and the way they communicate is a huge part of why.

The Hotfix That Proves the Point

Take that Waystone sustain issue. In a lot of live-service games, running dry on the currency you need to keep playing endgame content would be a silent frustration that festers for weeks before the studio acknowledges it. GGG pushed a hotfix within days of the update going live, buffed four specific Atlas passive nodes, and told players exactly what changed and why. The 'Atop the World' node now grants a 10% increase to Waystone quantity from map bosses. 'Archeological Interest' and 'Valuable Paths' each got the same 10% bump. 'Pathkeepers' went from 10% to 15%. They even warned players that the visual updates to the Atlas passive tree won't appear until a later patch, even though the bonuses are already active. That kind of transparency is exactly what I mean when I talk about studios communicating well.

The hotfix wasn't just about Waystones, either. GGG fixed a progression-blocking bug in the Abyss quest, corrected Atlas wound map credit tracking, and made damage sources like Pyromantic Pact work properly in boss arenas. They also nerfed Kelari's Deception, capping its consecutive-use damage bonus at 300% more damage. If you were stacking that command skill on the Sand Djinn and watching the numbers climb without limit, that party is over. A liveblog of updates tracked the entire launch weekend in real time, cataloguing crashes, validation issues, and every fix as it went out.

Return of the Ancients itself brought new storylines, a revamped endgame, and a build tracker aimed at making the game less intimidating for newer players. That last addition matters. PoE has always had a reputation for complexity that borders on hostility toward newcomers, and giving people a guided path through their first build is a smart concession without dumbing anything down.

The free weekend is over, but PoE 2 is 50% off until June 12 for anyone who wants in. GGG is still targeting a full 1.0 release sometime in 2026, at which point the game goes free-to-play for everyone. If you're waiting for that, fair enough. But 421,000 people just voted with their time that the early access version is already pulling its weight.