Path of Exile’s latest expansion has been delayed due to… Cyberpunk 2077?

We all know that Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be huge. We’ve seen the trailers, read the tweets and read the comments on every single piece of media related to the thing. Developers CD Projekt Red have done a great job at overhyping their own game to an almost unattainable level of perceived quality by fans and, seemingly, other developers. It’s been a year for delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but that’s not the reason Grind Gear Games is delayed the latest Path of Exile expansion. Nope, they’re delaying their next major content drop because it would launch a day after Cyberpunk 2077.

Writing in a post, CEO of Grind Gear Games, Chris Wilson said, “Yesterday, CD Projekt Red announced that Cyberpunk 2077 will now be released on December 10. We do not want to put our players in a position of having to choose between these two games, so we have decided to step out of the way and delay the release of Path of Exile 3.13 until January.” The expansion was initially meant to release on 11 December. Within that same post, Wilson states that work on the 3.13 update should be completed in early/mid December anyway, meaning it will be super ready for that January release date.

I can understand the thinking behind GGGs delay. Path of Exile is a time consuming game, one that requires at least a daily check in to make sure you’re getting the loot you want and build out your character in a meaningful way. Given that there’s no doubt a cross-over between PoE and Cyberpunk fans, the folks that fall into that Venn Diagram will no doubt be pleased that they don’t have to split their valuable time. Those Path of Exile fans that don’t care about Cyberpunk 2077… well, I guess they’ve been given a reason to now.

Last Updated: November 16, 2020