PoE2, Marvel Rivals Ignite Gaming with Stellar Launch

Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with incredibly successful launch weekends, each boasting a remarkable 500,000+ player base. Let's delve into the details of these impressive achievements.

A Weekend of Record-Breaking Launches

The weekend saw the simultaneous release of two highly anticipated titles: the team-based PVP arena shooter, Marvel Rivals (December 6th), and the action RPG, Path of Exile 2 (December 7th, Early Access). Both games attracted an astounding half-million players on their respective launch days.

Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch on Steam alone peaked at 578,569 concurrent players – a truly impressive figure for a paid Early Access title. The game's launch day also generated over 1 million Twitch viewers, highlighting its immense popularity. The sheer volume of players even temporarily overwhelmed SteamDB, the database tracking Steam statistics, leading to a humorous public acknowledgment from SteamDB itself.

Even before its official release, Path of Exile 2 had already surpassed 1 million pre-orders, a number that continued to climb rapidly in the hours leading up to launch. This unprecedented surge in players purchasing Early Access passes necessitated a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to handle the influx of traffic. Despite this proactive measure, some players still experienced login issues and disconnections, highlighting the massive anticipation surrounding the game's release.

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