OG Path of Exile devs want to keep making expansions “forever” – “as long as there’s a player base, we’ll keep making content”

Path of Exile Update 3.26 offers a tonne of new content for Grinding Gear Games’ spectacularly dense ARPG, but the developer is far from done. As the team polishes up the latest Secrets of the Atlas expansion with new mercenaries, tattoos and endgame content, there’s still years of additional updates in the pipeline.

Despite the success of Path of Exile 2’s early access launch, Grinding Gear Games isn’t following the trend of other ARPGs. Instead, the studio is taking a Runescape approach with new content coming for the developer’s latest title while also supporting the older experience for as long as fans want.

Path of Exile 1 won’t ever be abandoned

Speaking to VideoGamer ahead of the new expansion’s launch on June 13th, technical director Jonathan Rogers explained that there is no plan at the studio to ever abandon Path of Exile. While the sequel is doing very well, the developer recognises the large fanbase that sticks entirely with the original game, and wants to support that for as long as possible.

“The short answer is forever,” Rogers responded when asked how long the studio wishes to keep making major content drops for the original PoE title, “which I know sounds like, you know, not being realistic, but that is actually the case.”

Of course, if players end up leaving the original Path of Exile in droves and nobody is playing, then the team won’t continue to support the game. However, for as long as players are still looting through the game’s deep, gothic dungeons for loot and glory, there will be more content in the works for them to enjoy.

“As long as there’s a player base, then we’re creating content for them.”

GRINDING GEAR GAMES’ JONATHAN ROGERS

“As long as there are players who are enjoying [PoE] and fans [we’ll support it],” they continued. “I mean, Path of Exile 1, I mean, Settlers of Kalguur [the game’s 2024 expansion] set new records for player numbers. And that was before Early Access of PoE 2.”

As Path of Exile 2 evolves, Rogers explained that he genuinely doesn’t know how the numbers will shift between the two titles. However, there is a large amount of players who only play one PoE game, and there’s also a fair amount of crossover. Nevertheless, the team is confident that there will be a sizeable audience to support for both titles to be supported for many years.

“It’s safe to say that we’re probably going to have a decently comparable amount of numbers [between both games], and that’s exactly what we want,” we were told. “As long as there’s a player base, then we’re creating content for them. Why would you not? So, we will keep developing them.”

While both Path of Exile and its sequel are both ARPGs with similarities, there’s also a lot of differences. It’s not quite Old School Runescape to Runescape 3, but there are major changes. Rogers explained that the studio sees them as “two different games with two different audiences”, and that means that there’s always something to improve in one title.

“We can keep creating it as if that’s the case,” Rogers said. “There’s no reason not to. It’s still very enjoyable, so we’ll just keep going.”

Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas releases on June 13, 2025.