Check with seller The Award-Winning Path of Exile: The Ethical Free-To-Play

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Other Services Published date: January 11, 2018

It’s been five years since the release of Path of Exile, Grinding Gear Games’ action-RPG that was notable upon its launch for its proudly free-to-play model. While this would have been good news for gamers tired of having to pay real money in order to gain an edge over the opposition, many had wondered what the move would mean for Grinding Gear’s bottom line. Fortunately, everything appears to be running smoothly now that PoE is five years old, with the old “ethical” model remaining in place up to the present.


This was an issue at its peak during PoE’s initial release back in 2013. Grinding Gear Games made it a point that they certainly were not the same kind of company that preyed on weak-willed people when it came to gacha boxes, P2W mechanics, or PoE currency trading for pay-to-win mechanics. Many people first thought that this was going to spell the end for the new game; it seemed so absurd that it would be able to support itself without such practices.


Path of Exile: The Aftermath


PoE still does have a cash shop available for it, but contains mere vanity items that do not affect the core gameplay whatsoever. After five full years, it appears that it has, fortunately, been nothing but good for Grinding Gear Games. They have been able to pull millions of dollars from supportive customers that have either bought vanity items from the shop or other crowd-funding methods to continue to support the game. GGG admits that if they went with the P2W route, they would certainly be making more money, but the game is still doing great. They have been able to pay off all development costs, and have been profiting since 2014. This shows that there really is an ethical way to run a modern F2P game.


Path of Exile is a fantastic example of good business practices in action, but let us not forget that it would not be such an ethical success if not for the core game itself. Many fans of the franchise were attracted to it by the heavy blend of Diablo and Dark Souls influences, which is something that the developers have stressed often about. With well-polished combat systems, interesting story and characters, and a plethora of content to boot, there is very little reason as to why PoE would not be one of the gaming industry’s best indie success stories.


Five Years On and Still Going Strong


It is refreshing to see that it is not only the money-grubbing companies like EA that have all the triumphs regardless of how awful their business practices are. Grinding Gear Games and Path of Exile have come a long way and still have ways to go before we see this franchise die off. The game’s health continues to grow with the recent release of their latest expansion, War for the Atlas, which has revitalized the population as more and more players trickle in to experience one of the best and most cared for ARPG.


The model is definitely working five years onward, and while it would be too much to expect all games to follow in PoE’s footsteps, it’s a good thing that games like it exist, and continue to be popular in the ARPG gaming community even up to the present day. If you are interested to buy poe items, please visit our website.

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