Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with spectacularly successful launch weekends. Discover the impressive player numbers and noteworthy achievements!
Half a Million Strong: A Record-Breaking Launch
An Action-Packed Weekend
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, followed by Path of Exile 2's Early Access release on December 7th. Both games captivated a massive audience, boasting 500,000 concurrent players each on their respective launch days.
Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch on Steam alone peaked at an astounding 578,569 players. This impressive number is even more remarkable considering the paid Early Access model. Twitch viewership for the game exceeded 1 million on launch day, highlighting its immense popularity. The overwhelming influx of players even temporarily overloaded SteamDB, the popular database site, leading to a humorous acknowledgement from the SteamDB team.
Pre-orders for Path of Exile 2 surpassed 1 million before launch, and this figure continued to climb rapidly. The sudden surge in Early Access purchases necessitated a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to manage the influx of players. Despite these efforts, some players experienced temporary disconnections and login issues, highlighting the incredible anticipation surrounding the game's release.
Read Game8's review of Path of Exile 2's Early Access version!
