Path of Exile 2’s early access period was supposed to start earlier today, but due to some internal issues, no one has been able to access the game yet. Launch was originally scheduled for 2:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. PST, but developer Grinding Gear Games decided to make some last-minute database upgrades as a ton more players were eagerly queuing up to play the game to play, and they I didn’t expect that there were so many. So they made database updates to handle the influx of players. However, the upgrades didn’t go as planned, as the team working on the database said it would only take “half an hour” to get access to Path of Exile 2. However, this was not the case.

When they tried to update the database, they discovered another problem in the game. It started with a crash that “would have affected the majority of users,” which was promptly resolved. The developers said the game is ready to go and the Early Access release is “relatively imminent.” However, this wasn’t to be the case as the team ran into another issue with the configuration and said they needed to restart the realm. All of this is updated on their social media, where they show those interested step by step how they encounter problems and what they do to solve them.

Although they managed to fix the issue, they said the same symptom appeared again but with a different issue where multiple characters had the same character ID. They then said:

“We encountered the same symptom again with another problem. We are working on fixing it again, but unfortunately every time this happens we have to restart and clear the databases to prevent them from falling into a bad or corrupted state. We will do a solution as quickly as possible!”

They have assured audiences that they will be kept updated during this time as they face a difficult early access launch. However, it is already more popular on Twitch than World of Warcraft and New World, and is currently more popular than Diablo IV in terms of live viewers.

Aside from the game’s live servers being unavailable, the official Path of Exile 2 website is also unavailable. The website just takes you to a blank page with the message “temporarily unavailable…”.

We will continue to keep you updated as the hard-working developers make changes and fixes.

While you wait, check out our hands-on on Path of Exile 2 Early Access, written by Francesco De Meo.