The developers of Path of Exile 2 warned everyone in advance that there would be login, server, and queue issues at launch, and it should come as no surprise that there would be login, server, and queue issues at launch There is a queue.

Although Path of Exile 2 was supposed to release at 2:00 PM ET, as of this writing the game is still offline after the game provided a series of updates on what’s going on. They are:

• 1 p.m., before the start – “We are making some last-minute database upgrades to accommodate the overwhelming volume of Exiles preparing to log into Path of Exile 2. We are trying to get this done as quickly as possible, but there may be a short delay on the servers going live.”
• 2:20 p.m., after takeoff – “We are still working on deploying the database improvements and will update you as we know more.” As soon as we can provide an exact timeline, we will do so. Thank you for your patience.”
• 2:30 p.m., after takeoff – “We have deployed the new database configuration and are working on getting everything working again. According to our current time estimates, access should be open within the next half hour. Thank you again for your support. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.”
• UPDATE, 3:00 p.m – “Another update: We have encountered a last minute crash that would have affected the majority of users. We have now fixed it and are deploying it. Once the error is resolved, we will perform our final checks and then release access. If there are any further updates, we will inform you immediately. Thank you again for your patience, we are almost there!”

If the next half hour passes, that would be 3:00 pm ET before access reopens (oops, never mind) and the servers come up. Theoretically. It was impossible to get in at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped the game from racking up eye-popping numbers, like a million concurrent viewers on Twitch, while everyone is currently just stuck on the login screen. The game also has 306,000 concurrent players on Steam, climbing for the login screen alone, and the game actually appeared to have caused Steamdb to crash at some point.

It’s no big surprise that there’s a lot of interest in Path of Exile 2, considering the game’s storied history and long development time. While we just saw Marvel Rivals launch successfully (with no server issues), once everything stabilizes here we’ll see even more incredible numbers.

It will be interesting to see what mix of new and old players there is, and whether Diablo converts find the game either better or worse than they imagine. But for this to happen, someone has to get on board first. Check back here for updates as they appear.

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