Path Of Exile expansion delayed to avoid Cyberpunk 2077
"Decided to step out of the way"
Fine free-to-play action-RPG Path Of Exile had been due to launch its latest expansion on December 11th, but then CD Projekt Red delayed Cyberpunk 2077's launch by three weeks to December 10th. Recognising that yeah, lots of folks are going to be playing Cyberpunk instead, Exile devs Grinding Gear Games have delayed the 3.13 expansion into January. Sage.
"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," Grinding Gear said in yesterday's announcement.
They go on to say that they're really not using this as an excuse, they do still expect to have 3.13 finished by early/mid-December, but y'know, Cyberpunk. So with the extra time between original and delayed launches, they'll start work on the 3.14 expansion - presumably the plan they've had for those weeks all along.
I do like that they openly shrug and say: yeah, Cyberpunk innit. Developers delay launches all the time to dodge big releases and similar games, but tend to dance around it with terse statements, rarely so keen to name the cause.
I'm going to start using this myself. You're expecting anything from me in December? Don't worry pal, I've pushed it back so you can spend more time with Cyberpunk. You're welcome!