Path Of Exile Expansion Delayed Due To Cyberpunk

As with all things, video game development does not exist in a bubble. Big game releases being delayed has a knock-on effect, with smaller games rushing to not compete on launch-day. And unsurprisingly, this is what we have seen with Cyberpunk 2077. So, following the news that CD Projekt RED’s new game has been delayed to the 10th of December, the latest Path Of Exile expansion has been delayed to avoid clashing. This is a letdown for fans awaiting new content, but probably a wise decision from developers Grinding Gear Games.

Path Of Exile Into January

Are you feeling lucky, Cyberpunk?!

Keen to avoid direct competition, Path Of Exile’s v3.13 expansion has been knocked back in January. As Cyberpunk 2077 is set to be a massive release, I’d be surprised if there weren’t a few more developers considering moving their release dates too. Chris Wilson, Path Of Exile’s lead designer, sums it up: “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.” It’s hard to argue with his logic, really.

A Nasty Side To the Story

Path Of Exile developers is not the only ones impacted by CyberPunk 2077’s delay. As a result of this latest delay, tempers have flared among fans. This has led to CD Projekt RED developers receiving abuse, which has even stretched as far as death threats. This feels extra unfair to developers who only found out about the delay on Twitter! This has required one of CD Projekt RED’s senior designers to address abuse directly on Twitter. Andrej Zawadzki states, “We are people, just like you.” Now, I’m as disappointed as anyone that CyberPunk 2077 has been delayed, but things should never go this far.

I want to address one thing in regards of the @CyberpunkGame delay.
I understand you're feeling angry, disappointed and want to voice your opinion about it.
However, sending death threats to the developers is absolutely unacceptable and just wrong. We are people, just like you.

— Andrzej Zawadzki (@ZawAndy) October 27, 2020