Additional time is required for the server-side infrastructure and supporting players’ data from Path of Exile 1 at launch.

Grinding Gear Games has announced a delay to Path of Exile 2’s early access launch. Instead of November 15th, it’s now going live for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via December 6th. In a new video, game director Jonathan Rogers revealed that the delay is due to work on the server-side infrastructure, which has taken “a lot longer than we expected.”

There’s also the issue of creating systems to ensure that microtransactions from the first game work in Path of Exile 2. “To do that, we have to integrate the account systems for not only Path of Exile 1 and 2 but also for the console realms.” Ensuring backwards compatibility for older data must be accounted for, and when the team began migrating databases, some “strange demons” were discovered.

“How do multiple accounts get the same name? How do multiple accounts get the same email address? How do multiple accounts have the same Steam IDs? Why is this person’s account name just random gibberish that doesn’t even decode?” The team is thus taking the additional time to ensure everything is “perfect” so layers don’t lose their data.

“At the same time, because we’re changing all this back-end code, we have to do a lot of load testing to ensure the whole thing doesn’t fall over when they could get the huge number of players we’re expecting at launch.” Though Rogers believes the team could have made the original launch, he’s not confident it will go flawlessly, hence the delay.

A livestream revealing all the content in early access, including the endgame, will air in “about four weeks.” Stay tuned for further updates until then.

Announced in 2019, Path of Exile 2 started as a secondary campaign for the original game before turning into a standalone release. It features 12 classes, each with three Ascendancies, numerous gameplay changes and improvements (say goodbye to linking gear), and more.