PoE2 and Marvel Rivals Sets Gaming World Ablaze with Successful Weekend Launch

Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals ignited the gaming world with incredibly successful launch weekends. Let's delve into the impressive numbers.

A Massive Player Base

Both games attracted a staggering 500,000 players each on their respective launch days. Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PVP arena shooter, debuted on December 6th. Path of Exile 2, the highly anticipated action RPG, followed on December 7th, launching in Early Access.

Path of Exile 2's Early Access launch was particularly noteworthy, reaching a peak of 578,569 concurrent players on Steam alone. This impressive figure is even more remarkable considering the paid Early Access model. Twitch viewership for the game also soared, exceeding 1 million on launch day. The game's popularity was so overwhelming that it briefly overloaded the SteamDB database, resulting in a humorous public acknowledgment from SteamDB itself.

Prior to 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 massive influx of players purchasing Early Access necessitated a last-minute database upgrade by the development team to handle the unprecedented traffic. Despite these efforts, some players experienced disconnections and login issues, highlighting the immense anticipation surrounding the game's release.

Read Game8's Path of Exile 2 Early Access review for more insights!