"Path of Exile 1 3.26 Update Paused Until Path of Exile 2 0.2.0 Release, Developer Apologizes"

The developers behind *Path of Exile* have issued a heartfelt apology to longtime fans of the original game following the postponement of its next major update. This delay comes as Grinding Gear Games (GGG) focuses on stabilizing and refining *Path of Exile 2* ahead of its full early access release.

For over a decade, *Path of Exile 1* has remained a staple in the action RPG scene, with GGG pledging continued support even during and after the launch of its sequel. However, the upcoming 3.26 update for *Path of Exile 1*, initially slated for late October 2024 and later rescheduled for mid-February 2025, has now been pushed further back. The development team originally planned to shift resources between titles, but unforeseen challenges with *Path of Exile 2* made that impossible.

In a candid video message, Jonathan Rogers, co-founder of GGG and game director for *Path of Exile 2*, explained how the studio temporarily reassigned the *Path of Exile 1* team to assist with endgame development for the sequel ahead of its December 2024 launch window. Unfortunately, the move proved harder to reverse than anticipated due to ongoing technical issues with *Path of Exile 2*, including performance crashes and balance concerns.

“We were fooling ourselves,” admitted Rogers, acknowledging the miscalculations in planning. He also emphasized the difficulty of justifying pulling senior developers off *Path of Exile 2* when it was clearly struggling at launch. “How could I justify taking some of the most experienced developers we have off PoE2 when it’s on fire?”

As a result, the *Path of Exile 1* team remains focused on *Path of Exile 2* until version 0.2.0 is released—likely a few weeks beyond that point. At the time of the announcement, *Path of Exile 2* was running at version 0.1.1. “Unfortunately, I just can’t promise a date right now,” Rogers added.

He concluded with a sincere apology to fans of the original game: “I’m really sorry for how this went down. Honestly, I should have predicted the fact that taking the Path of Exile 1 team off Path of Exile 1 would lead to this outcome, and I probably should have resisted doing it. But at every stage I just kept thinking, we still have time, we still have time. And then we didn’t have time any more.”

Rogers acknowledged that the studio still needs to learn how to manage two live games simultaneously. “We were overconfident,” he said. “We still need to work out how to structure our studio to make this possible. But we do have a solid plan for what we want to do with 3.26.”

After months of anticipation, *Path of Exile 2* finally launched into early access on December 6, 2024, across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game was met with overwhelming success, earning its place among the top 15 most-played games on Steam ever.

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Looking for tips to get started? Discover which class suits your playstyle best in *Path of Exile 2* Early Access, or jump straight into gameplay with an early Mercenary build guide and Sorceress build guide. If you're curious about advanced mechanics like obtaining more Spirit, trading strategies, and how to ascend, we’ve got comprehensive guides to help you thrive in Wraeclast.