Last Epoch passes Path of Exile’s all time player count on Steam

Indie ARPG Last Epoch has earned itself a notable achievement on Steam during its first week of official release, with the game beating Path of Exile’s all-time player count.

Last Epoch, the action RPG from Eleventh Hour Games, has been described by many fans as the middle ground between Path of Exile’s grind and Diablo IV’s hefty focus on monetization. First announced in 2019, Last Epoch had a long stretch in early access before launching on February 21.

But despite a long wait, players were keen for the launch. The game’s popularity with ARPG fans saw servers fold under concurrent player counts of over 150,000 on the first day.

Now servers are stable, and Last Epoch’s has managed to secure a significant milestone. The game officially passed Path of Exile’s record for all-time players on Steam by almost twenty-two thousand players on February 25 — just four days after its full release.

Celebrations aside, it’s important to note that Path of Exile also has its own game launcher, separate from Steam. These players won’t be taken into account by sites like SteamDB.

It’s generally believed Steam players count for around two-thirds of PoE’s total player base, so Last Epoch still has some bodies to bring in to beat the total all-time player count. But it’s still an impressive feat for an indie game to achieve, especially so soon after facing launch struggles.

“No wonder they experienced technical issues. Who would expect to beat POE player count on day 1?” came the reaction from one surprised fan.

The achievement also feels like a victory for some ARPG fans who are hoping the uptick in interest and surge of popularity for Last Epoch spells a renaissance for the genre.

“Arpg fans eating good this year. LE 1.0, PoE2 in summer,” said one user, referring to Last Epoch and the upcoming Path of Exile 2 beta in June.

“It’s so exciting to see all the great options that are evolving in the ARPG space now. I hope we continue to see the space grow!” agreed another.

Despite its rocky start, Last Epoch seems to have found itself on solid ground now.