The press tour has begun which means that for the next week we'll be showing our upcoming expansion content to scores of journalists. This also means that our announcement is just around the corner - in fact, you'll be able to check out the announcement details in all their glory at 2pm June 2 (PDT).While we are on track to announce the expansion as scheduled, it's still too early to provide a firm confirmation of the expansion's launch date. As we mentioned last week, there is a possibility that it may be further delayed. The launch date will be confirmed alongside the announcement.In terms of the size of the expansion, it's in-line with most of our others like Delve, Incursion, Blight, etc., but smaller than our recent December expansions like Conquerors of the Atlas and Betrayal. You can expect all the hallmarks of a Path of Exile expansion like a new challenge league, improvements to existing content, new unique items, skill gems, support gems, rebalanced gameplay and more!This als... Read more

Launched in December 2019, Conquerors of the Atlas introduced a new endgame storyline for Path of Exile. Nick, one of our narrative designers, describes the process of creating lore for the Conquerors in today's news post.

Conquerors of the Atlas was the third major endgame update to Path of Exile's complex endgame, following War for the Atlas (which introduced the Elder) and Atlas of Worlds (which introduced the Shaper) before that. However, unlike those two updates, we were not simply adding a story or augmenting an existing story, but progressing it, and examining the consequences of those events from an outsider's perspective. How did it come about? Well I'm glad you asked me!

We knew we were doing some endgame changes about 6 months ahead of the launch of Conquerors. What we didn't know was the scale of those changes, or what would happen to the existing Atlas and its associated storylines. And ExileCon was coming up quick, where we would be announcing not only this expansion, but ...

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We're finishing preparation for the 3.11 press tour which starts next week while continuing to work on the expansion and its announcement which is currently planned for the 2nd of June (PDT). In other news - we're discounting every type of Stash Tab, including the Delve Tab, Unique Collection Tab, Fragment Tab, Map Tab, Premium Stash Tab Bundles, Premium Quad Stash Tab, Essence Tab, Divination Tab, Currency Tab and Guild Stash Tabs (PC only)! Press M in game to view the full selection of discounted stash tabs.The sale runs all weekend and ends at May 25, 2020 9:00 PM (PDT) (this is displayed in your local time). If you need some extra points, we recommend checking out the Delirium supporter packs, before they leave the store forever!In addition, community racing organizers Brittleknee and Rex are teaming up to host a series of events over the next two weekends! There's a race day planned this Saturday (May 23rd PDT) which includes a variety of events from Boss Rushes to an XP Race and ... Read more

One of the most-enjoyed aspects of the Synthesis league was the lore the league explored. At the time, we didn't get a chance to talk much about it, so we're doing so now! (written by Nick, one of our narrative designers).

Like most of our leagues, Synthesis started first as a few interconnected mechanics -- namely, the dissolving landscape and the tile-placement metagame. We decided early on in discussions that 'memory fragments', which had previously been established by the Atlas lore, would be a great representation for these dissolving landscapes. Immediately, I knew I wanted narration throughout these areas. We'd just come off the back of Betrayal, however, in which we'd run into issues with overlapping dialogue.

As soon as we had playable prototypes for the dissolving areas, I tried to figure out approximately how much dialogue we could reliably fit into a run of one of these areas without running into overlapping or early-cutting off. Turns out, about a sentence or two.

With our li...

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In a few weeks we'll be announcing our next expansion and its challenge league. As you know, with the announcement we usually release a new set of league supporter packs, which means the current Delirium Supporter Packs will be removed from the store forever.There are two pairs of Delirium Supporter Packs available in the store, the Fateweaver and the Darkseer. Each of the two pairs is designed in its own style and has different contents, so you can choose whichever one you prefer (or both). You can upgrade from the smaller one in a pair to the larger one. All of the microtransactions from the Supporter Packs are exclusive and will not appear in the store again. If you're interested in getting one of the Delirium Supporter Packs but you're not sure you'll be able to do so in time, we'd recommend setting up a payment plan which can reserve a pack for you for up to three months after the commencement of your plan. Just email us in advance at [email protected], we'll be happy to h... Read more

We know many of you are eagerly waiting for an update about when to expect our next expansion announcement and launch. This news post will let you know the timeline that we're currently working to but also explain the tricky nature of predicting when the expansion will launch.As many of you are already aware, we have completed 8 of the 13 weeks of this development cycle from home which is a significant amount of lost time in terms of face-to-face and group collaboration. Our team worked hard to quickly adjust to the new work paradigm but there have definitely been some difficulties in working this way that have made development a little slower. Due to this, we have already internally delayed the expansion's launch by one week from its originally-expected launch date.It is very important to us that we release a high-quality expansion in June, and we will take the time to do this if we feel that we need an additional week or two. While we tried hard to achieve this within our regular 13 ... Read more

Continuing with our developer interviews, we took a moment to talk with Skyler, one of our gameplay programmers who joined the team last year. Check it out below.Hi Skyler! Thanks for taking part in the interview. Please introduce yourself.
Hi! My name is Skyler and I'm a gameplay programmer at Grinding Gear Games since about October of last year. I was born in Alaska where I grew up, attended college at the University of Utah, and now I'm here in NZ learning how to be a proper kiwi.Could you tell us a bit about your current role at GGG?
As a gameplay programmer I pretty much do anything and everything programming related that has to do with gameplay: implementing unique items, hooking up new stats, making skills, and more.When did you find out about Path of Exile?
I started playing Path of Exile about 7 years ago when I was in highschool and 1.0 came out. I had a good friend who told me about it and I had fond memories of D2 as a kid so I gave it a go. Been playing almost every league si... Read more

We're continuing to share screenshots of Path of Exile bosses from Act One. Have a look at them below. If you're interested in seeing more screenshots, check them out here[www.pathofexile.com] and here[www.pathofexile.com].




This weekend we're running a sale on a huge selection of weapon skins, weapon effects and shields with more than 150 cosmetic effects available at discounted prices, including the Darkprism Weapon Effect, Celestial Shield, Heartseeker Weapon and more. Please note that this sale excludes some of the weapon and shield microtransactions introduced since the launch of the Delirium expansion.The sale will run from the time of this post until May 19, 2020 4:00 PM (PDT). Check out the full list of specials by pressing M in game.Thanks for your support! Have a great weekend everyone! Read more

In today's news post, we're taking a look at all microtransactions from Path of Exile's beginning to see which microtransactions in each category have sold the most and discussing the various factors that contribute to this.Before we begin, it's worth noting that all microtransactions featured below are ordered by quantity purchased rather than how much they contribute to overall sales.Let's start with Armour Sets. Released in 2015, the Infernal Armour Set became an absolute hit amongst the community, holding the top position even five years later. Interestingly enough, while only two out of the ten armour packs in this list can be considered as relatively new, both represent the most popular microtransaction themes, Celestial and Stygian. It's also worth noting that these stats skew towards older microtransactions simply because there's been a longer amount of time to purchase them. More recently released microtransactions are at a disadvantage for appearing in these lists as there ha... Read more

When working on a new league, finding a way to integrate its story into Path of Exile's existing lore is always a challenge. Nick, one of our narrative designers, has written an article to give you a behind the scenes look at the "Day Zero" rule they keep in mind when introducing a new story into the current lore.

Who remembers Talisman League? While not one of the most popular leagues, Talisman was a turning point in Path of Exile's league design philosophy. Prior to Talisman, Standard and Hardcore each got a separate league mechanic, with the mechanic designed to be a layer that sits on top of Path of Exile's core gameplay. There was a time when a league could just be some new monster mods!

But Talisman changed that. It introduced a new set of items, a progression, an endgame boss, and a story. After Talisman, every league was to feature these things.

When we're working on a new league, finding a way to integrate it into Path of Exile's expansive lore is always a challenge. Here's why:

U...

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We're always happy to show off the talents of our players to the wider community. For today's news post we gathered several pieces of recently submitted Path of Exile fan art. Check them below!Young Golemancer by KungFuPanda2
Nine-Tailed Fox Pet Air Brush by Cocaneman
Strange Voice and Voices Fanart by HoldimProvae
Solaris by yellowsubmarinedude
Strange Voice Fanart by Doranex
The Twilight Strand Painting by recoilwhenyouwake's Mum
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As you know, sometimes we hire talented people straight from the community. James (aka viperesque), a subreddit moderator and long-time community member you may be familiar with, joined our team a few months ago. We recently asked him to share some insight about his background and time with us. We hope you enjoy this interview.Hi James! Thanks for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself.
Hi! I’m James, but in Path of Exile circles more people will know me as viperesque from the forums, reddit or Discord. I’ve been working at GGG as a game designer since January this year.Tell us a bit about your current role at GGG.
Before I started working to get this job, I didn’t really appreciate how many different tasks were involved in game design in Path of Exile! Turns out there are a lot of hats to wear. The roles which I expect people associate most with it are coming up with ideas and doing balance adjustments for items, skill and support gems, crafting systems, and so on. That... Read more