Big Announcements Soon
In just over two weeks, ExileCon will take place in Auckland, New Zealand, with plans to reveal Path of Exile 2 Patch 1.0 on December 11th. This marks the game's full free-to-play launch. The event will also feature the reveal of Path of Exile 1 Patch 3.30, which we now know is scheduled to launch immediately following the event on November 13th.
PoE 1's Journey Since PoE2
Path of Exile 1 has had a somewhat rocky journey ever since the announcement of Path of Exile 2. There have been some great updates, as well as some less successful ones. We've seen incredible Atlas expansions, but we've also experienced a massive gap without one. Release schedules remained consistent for a time, until they didn't.
More recently, however, things have been subtly changing for Path of Exile 1. Considering some of the information we already have about Patch 3.30 and what lies beyond, I believe that Path of Exile 1 is about to enter another golden age, so to speak. But what exactly do I mean by that?
The Golden Age
When you think of Path of Exile 1's best moments, you might think of your favorite league. It could be something recent, like Mirage. Perhaps it's Affliction or Sentinel. Or, going further back, maybe it's Legion.
But when I think of Path of Exile's golden age, I think of the three-year period when I first started playing the game. Coincidentally, this was the era of three consecutive annual Atlas expansions that brought incredible updates to the game, including the first Atlas Passive Tree, which was later superseded by the expansive version we have today.
This period also introduced bosses such as the Maven, the Eater of Worlds, and the Searing Exarch, as well as systems like Eldritch implicit crafting. During that time, it was nearly impossible to predict what each new Atlas expansion would bring because the changes were consistently impactful and surprising.
To this day, I still believe that the Atlas Passive Tree is the single greatest addition ever made to the game.
The Low Point
However, after Patch 3.17, the streak of annual Atlas expansions came to a halt. Patch 3.21 should have been an Atlas expansion, but it wasn't. Then ExileCon 2023 came around, leading many to believe that the expansion had been delayed and would be announced for Patch 3.22. But that wasn't the case either.
Then came 3.23, 3.24, and 3.25, with no Atlas expansion in sight. After that, we endured an 11-month gap without any new releases. If the run of annual Atlas expansions from 3.10 to 3.17 represented Path of Exile's golden age, then the period following the release of 3.25 was surely one of its lowest points.
The Return to Form
Eventually, though, Patch 3.26 rose from the ashes. Not only did it deliver a new Atlas expansion, but it also marked a return to a regular release cadence.
While you could argue that 3.26 wasn't a true Atlas expansion because its endgame content was more additive than transformative, it was still an extremely enjoyable update. More importantly, it was a much-needed high point after nearly a year with no new content.
Since then, Path of Exile 1 has resumed its regular league release schedule. Around the time of Patch 3.27, we also learned that Path of Exile 1 now had its own dedicated development team. Prior to that, developers had been splitting their time between the two games in order to keep releases on track, which was probably far from ideal.
So, a few leagues later, where do we stand now? And why do I believe that Path of Exile 1 is about to enter another golden age?
There are actually quite a few reasons, but first, I want to address the elephant in the room. Yes, Patch 3.30 is launching at a very far-from-ideal time.
3.30 Launch Window
World of Warcraft: Forever is on the horizon. Grand Theft Auto VI is looming. It's not exactly an ideal situation.
But my optimism about Path of Exile 1 isn't based solely on Patch 3.30. I'm thinking about the game's future as a whole: the patch after 3.30, the one after that, and even the end-of-year update in 2027. That's where I think Path of Exile 1 is really going to build momentum once again. But let's get into why.
More Developers to PoE 1
Let's start with the biggest reason.
Back in August, I attended Gamescom to playtest the Duelist in Path of Exile 2. Other content creators were there as well, including Crouching Tuna, who managed to ask Jonathan quite a few questions, and not just about PoE 2. In fact, he asked what may be one of the most important questions regarding Grinding Gear Games as a studio.
Let's take a look:
"When they finish the campaign, they aren't scaling the company down. They're keeping all of their employees. What that means is that many of the developers currently working on the campaign will either move to endgame systems for Path of Exile 2 or join the Path of Exile 1 team.
Jonathan specifically said that the Path of Exile 1 team is going to grow once PoE 2 launches. We're going to see more people working on PoE 1 and more resources being allocated to it, as well as to PoE 2, once the campaign is complete, which essentially means the 1.0 launch.
His reasoning was simple: they have no reason to let anyone go because they expect both games to continue growing. And he was genuinely talking about PoE 1. There was absolutely no hesitation in his voice. He spoke about it as a long-term project with complete confidence.
Honestly, it was great to hear. He clearly views PoE 1 as a major long-term project, and he seemed genuinely excited about its future."
This is a huge takeaway from that interview.
I also want to give a shoutout to Woody Joe, whom Tuna credited for helping prepare the questions and making it possible to get more time with Jonathan in the first place. More importantly, though, this is a very big deal.
We know that the Path of Exile 2 campaign has been a massive undertaking for Grinding Gear Games. Looking back at the game's initial announcement in 2019, then ExileCon 2023, and finally the Early Access launch at the end of 2024, it has taken years of work just to reach this point.
At launch, Early Access included only three acts. We now have four, and presumably all six will be available by the time Version 1.0 arrives. Building a campaign of this scale and quality has undoubtedly required an enormous amount of time, effort, and development resources. And the quality speaks for itself.
Just imagine what these developers will be able to accomplish once they can focus on other areas of both PoE 2 and PoE 1.
Personally, I think this shift will help stabilize the release cadence and move the game back toward a more predictable launch schedule. I also expect the quality of future updates, both in terms of content and gameplay systems, to improve significantly as a result.
PoE 1's Future Content
But what does all of this mean for PoE 1? Well, we know that Game Director Mark Roberts has long-term plans for the current endgame progression arc, which began in Patch 3.26 with Zana's return. He said as much during the league's Q&A session:
"It's an additive storyline for now, and that was intentional because I wanted the endgame to remain familiar. With this update, it was really important to maintain a layer of familiarity across the board.
But yes, this is essentially Part One of a new endgame story arc. Zana is back, and we have a whole new mystery to explore. I don't want to spoil too much about what's coming, but there's some really cool stuff ahead.
The way to think about it is that, over time, we're gradually moving away from the era of the Primordials and transitioning into this new phase of the endgame. Right now, the changes are additive. Maybe the next endgame expansion will be a bit more transformative, and then we'll continue exploring this new storyline from there.
So, yeah, it should be a lot of fun."
What Mark discusses here is that Patch 3.26 was designed as a more additive Atlas expansion. That's one of the main reasons why, for many players, it didn't quite feel like a traditional Atlas expansion in the same way some previous releases did.
However, what's particularly interesting is the long-term vision he outlines. This new narrative arc is intended to unfold over an extended period of time, presumably across multiple future Atlas expansions.
He also hints that the next expansion could be far more transformative. That would make it more similar to some of the game's most celebrated Atlas expansions, which fundamentally reshaped endgame progression and introduced major new systems.
If that's the direction Grinding Gear Games intends to take, then 3.26 may ultimately be remembered not as the destination, but as the foundation for a much larger endgame journey that is still to come.
A Return to Regular Atlas Expansions?
And when you combine that with the news that PoE 1 will have more developers working on future updates, I think it's not only possible, but perhaps even likely, that we'll see the return of annual Atlas expansions.
Patch 3.30 may very well be one of them. There are already several strong indications that this could be the case. The most significant comes from Zizaran's interview with Andrew and Octavian, where they revealed that Patch 3.30 will be heavily focused on the endgame. One of the update's primary goals will be revisiting and refreshing league mechanics alongside a major overhaul of endgame content.
Take a look:
"3.30 is planned to be an extreme shakeup of the endgame. So yeah, 3.30 will place a huge emphasis on refreshing the endgame experience.
We plan to revisit as many existing league mechanics as possible and give them something new, something interesting, and something different from before.
One of the problems we see right now is that the endgame has become stale. The same scarabs have been used for years, and many of the same strategies remain dominant.
We've trimmed back some of those strategies because they were overperforming, but that can feel bad when players have already experienced a stronger version of them several leagues earlier.
A major part of this update is making the game feel fresh again. That's also why it requires an entire four-month development cycle to accomplish."
Based on Octavian's comments, it sounds as though Patch 3.30 is aiming for much more than a standard league release. A substantial endgame overhaul, combined with widespread updates to existing league content, certainly fits the profile of an Atlas expansion.
On top of that, Andrew also had a few interesting comments when Zizaran asked whether players could expect any new Uber bosses.
"All we can really say is that 3.30 will include a lot of endgame changes. Those changes won't be limited to maps. They'll likely extend to content outside of maps as well, including bosses."
That statement is particularly interesting.
It suggests that 3.30 may not only rework existing bosses but could also introduce entirely new boss encounters. Perhaps we'll see a new pinnacle boss, additional Uber variants, or even multiple new endgame fights.
Once again, that aligns closely with what players typically expect from a major Atlas expansion. And if that's the case, perhaps we'll finally get the long-rumored Zana pinnacle boss encounter that has been hinted at for some time now. Honestly, that would be awesome.
Patch 4.0?
Now, the last topic I want to discuss is the idea of a Patch 4.0 for Path of Exile 1. Back in 2019, when Path of Exile 2 was first announced, it was originally presented as Path of Exile 4.0. At the time, it was envisioned as a massive update to Path of Exile 1 that would introduce a second campaign, a new skill gem socket system, an entirely new set of Ascendancies, and a variety of other major changes.
As we now know, however, Path of Exile 2 eventually grew far beyond its original scope and became a completely separate game. So what would a Patch 4.0 for Path of Exile 1 actually look like today?
Well, when you consider that several of the features originally planned for 4.0 have already found their way into PoE 1 in one form or another, I think the answer would be quite different now.
For example, we now have Bloodline Classes in Path of Exile 1. While they aren't directly comparable to adding entirely new Ascendancies, they do address some of the issues created by weaker Ascendancy nodes while also providing players with more niche character-building options.
At the same time, Patch 3.29 introduced the socket-colour rework. Again, this isn't the same as the original skill gem socket system that eventually became part of PoE 2, but it's difficult to imagine Grinding Gear Games implementing a change of that magnitude in PoE 1 today, given the enormous balance implications it would create.
However, when thinking about the features that would need to be included in a modern-day Patch 4.0 for Path of Exile 1, one feature stands above all others: WASD movement.
Ironically, WASD movement wasn't even part of the original vision for PoE 2. Yet after being added, it has proven to be one of the most well-received gameplay features in the game.
Personally, I don't mind switching between click-to-move and WASD controls when moving between the two games. However, I know there are many players who would love to see that option added to PoE 1.
We also know that Grinding Gear Games wants to bring WASD movement to PoE 1. The problem is that it's a massive undertaking. Existing MTX assets would need to be updated and ported over before the necessary animation and rigging work could be completed.
The last update we received regarding WASD movement in PoE 1 came during the Patch 3.27 Q&A. At the time, Mark explained that the feature would provide significant long-term benefits, particularly because of the additional animations it would enable for future skills. However, he also made it clear that implementing it would take a considerable amount of time.
For that reason, if there is any chance of a Patch 4.0 announcement at ExileCon, I don't think it will be tied to Patch 3.30. Instead, I think it would be associated with a much more distant release.
Perhaps we're talking about an expansion at the end of 2027. Or perhaps it would simply be an announcement without a release date attached, giving the team a sufficiently large development window to finish implementing WASD movement.
Because honestly, I struggle to imagine a modern Patch 4.0 for Path of Exile 1 without WASD. At this point, it feels like the defining feature that would justify a true version-number leap, and without it, a Patch 4.0 wouldn't feel complete.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, considering everything we know and everything we've learned about Grinding Gear Games and Path of Exile 1, I genuinely believe the game has a bright future ahead of it.
There was a period around Patch 3.25 and some of the updates that followed when that didn't necessarily feel like the case. However, my confidence in the PoE 1 team has grown significantly since then.
The way they talk about the game during interviews and Q&A sessions clearly reflects their passion for the project. And Jonathan's comments in the interview with Tuna suggest that PoE 1 is here to stay for the long haul.
Not only that, but the game is also expected to receive additional development resources moving forward, including a larger development team. That sounds like great news to me. As a fan of both PoE 1 and PoE 2, I'm extremely optimistic about the future of both games. And thanks for Dreamcore's original video.
