Path of Exile 2, the game Musk followed on his private jet, is going free-to-play with its 1.0 launch on December 11 after nearly two years in early access.
What does the world's richest man do for fun? He livestreams Path of Exile 2 on his private jet using Starlink WiFi. On August 26, this game that Musk had been following suddenly announced: the full 1.0 version arrives on December 11, switching entirely to free-to-play.
On August 26 local time, during the Gamescom opening-night livestream, GGG, the New Zealand developer owned by Tencent, officially announced that Path of Exile 2's 1.0 release will land on December 11 for PC (Steam, Epic), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, alongside a brand-new class, the Duelist (IT Home). The game entered early access on December 7, 2024, and has been running for nearly two years. The China server, Path of Exile: Advent, then scheduled its own transition to free on December 18, entering the full 1.0 version simultaneously.
When the news broke, Musk replied with a simple “Cool” on X. The world's richest man is Path of Exile 2's most famous “spokesperson”: livestreaming the game, showing off his ladder ranking, and teaming up on Starlink from his plane (Game Grape). Last year he was also the subject of widespread online attention for “hiring boosters and buying gear just to beat Asian players” (GameLook). A game favored by the world's richest man going free — that wave of attention was instantly maxed out.
Players' feelings are actually complicated. GGG originally planned an EA period of just six months, but it dragged on for nearly two years — something game director Jonathan Rogers admitted himself. But the numbers speak for themselves: on the EA launch's first weekend, the Steam concurrent-player peak hit 570,000, even surpassing Marvel Rivals' early days; Steam access-ticket sales alone were estimated to have grossed $150 million to $300 million (GameLook). Some players sighed: “The game that went toe-to-toe with Diablo 4 is finally getting its official release — and it's free.”
The 1.0 launch looks earnest enough: the China server version features 17 ascendancy classes, more than 1,500 passive skill points, over 280 skills, more than 700 item modifiers, and over 100 endgame bosses (IT Home). Before the switch to free, there's a warm-up — on September 10, the China server's first anniversary kicks off a “one-yuan play” event, with anniversary giveaways of limited permanent outfits, PS5s, RTX 5080 graphics cards, and tens of millions of credits (Tencent News). The game director declared on site: I want to see Path of Exile 2 top the Steam charts.
Don't assume 1.0 is the finish line. GGG has kept something in reserve: more 1.0 content will be revealed en masse at ExileCon in November (Game Grape). China-server players can now spend 1 yuan to get an early taste of the upcoming flashback league “Forbidden Rite” — an appetizer before the switch to free. The China server has already opened 8 base classes and 22 ascendancy classes, a fuller lineup than the overseas EA period.
Game director Jonathan is also quite candid. In an interview he admitted outright that the two ascendancy trials of the Sekhema trial are “not good enough yet,” that some areas of the main storyline lack content, and that the unique items made early on are “far worse than the ones we're putting out today” — all of which will be fixed before 1.0 (Game Grape). The good news is that after going free, they'll have plenty of time to fix things slowly — as long as players are still willing to give them a chance.
Why dare to go free? Because the endgame of a Diablo-like is “free + volume of content.” A paid entry can only block people temporarily, not forever; Diablo 4 sells the base game plus expansions, while Path of Exile 2 chooses to grow the pie with free access and then earn slowly from cosmetics and stash tabs. This is the template of GGG's global strategy after Tencent took control: development in New Zealand, global publishing, and a synchronized China server — one system running through.
Going free also has its price. The influx of players at the moment of the switch — whether the servers can hold up is the first question mark; anti-cheat enforcement is the second. Veteran players have their own feelings too: “We paid for EA, so why is it free?” GGG itself admits that old problems like unique items and trial mechanics still aren't fully fixed. Free is an entry ticket, not a get-out-of-death card.
I grinded myself sick during EA, and honestly, I'm a little afraid of the switch to free. But credit where it's due: daring to turn a two-year EA game straight into free-to-play shows confidence in the content. I just hope day-one queues and server crashes don't ruin this wave of goodwill.
Did you buy EA back then? Will you come back on December 11? Or have you been out of the game for a long time? Please come to Gghubs to discuss.