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4w ago

Path of Exile II to Reach 1.0 on December 11, Going Free to Play

The change to free access and platform‑wide account sharing signals Grinding Gear Games is rolling out a unified launch that could refocus the studio’s work on the sequel

Promotional key art of Path of Exile 2. A man stands in a gladiator arena wielding a bloody sword.
Path of Exile 2 gets a full 1.0 release date, and a sword class
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Path of Exile 2 Reaches 1.0 on 11th December, Goes Free-to-Play on PS5

Overview

  • Grinding Gear Games announced Tuesday that Path of Exile II will leave Early Access and ship as version 1.0 on December 11, 2026 for PC (Steam and Epic), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.
  • The December 11 release converts PoE II from paid Early Access into a free‑to‑play title and introduces full cross‑play and cross‑progression so players can share accounts and progress across platforms.
  • The Gamescom trailer revealed a sword‑using duelist class and highlighted core systems coming in 1.0, including 12 classes with 36 ascendancies, 240 skill gems, 200 support gems and a 1,500‑node passive tree.
  • Grinding Gear opened pre‑launch registrations with community reward tiers tied to sign‑up milestones, and it signaled near‑term balance work such as a mini‑league/0.5.5 update ahead of the full launch.
  • Reports note GGG has not specified how long it will keep issuing major updates for the original Path of Exile and observers expect longer‑term support to concentrate on PoE II once 1.0 ships.