The isometric action RPG is a popular little subgenre in RPG video games. They date from a time when most games couldn’t quite be made in full 3D, but even now, the ease of use and addictiveness of the genre means that new games like it have been getting made to this day.
Some of the big ones that have emerged to be notable include Supergiant Games’ breakout hit Hades, and Pillars of Eternity, from the developers who made Baldur’s Gate 3. Path of Exile may have been a niche title for years, but it has a better reputation than many games more successful than it is.
That’s because Grinding Gear Games put forward an unusual monetization strategy, that allowed fans to play the whole game and all future expansions for free. They made their money on completely optional cosmetics, at a time when this business model hadn’t become popular yet. Of course, we now know that many popular indie games such as Among Us have adopted this model, and one can definitely argue that it was Path of Exile proved that it could be successful.
Last week, we reported on Grinding Gear’s upcoming plans for Path of Exile II’s Early Access launch. While some fans aren’t quite happy with the new monetization plan for Early Access, it’s clear that the studio has earned enough goodwill that many players, if not most of them, are willing to give it a chance.
In fact, it’s safe to say that Grinding Gear Games has generated quite a bit of buzz for Path of Exile II, especially since it’s now establishing itself as a big console title as well as a PC game. And it seems that the industry definitely took notice of that.
Right as the weekend was starting, Diablo franchise executive producer Rod Fergusson made this subliminal tweet:
“Feels like the genre of “ARPG” is starting to mean a lot of different things. Much like “Souls-like” and “Rogue-like”, I wonder if we could normalize “Diablo-like” for ARPGs that follow the Diablo formula…”
There are so many things that fans have already said in response to this, such as the current state of Diablo IV, Fergusson’s history in the industry, and the fandom narrative around why they abandoned the Diablo franchise for Path of Exile.
But without getting into any of that, the fact that Blizzard management felt the need to respond to a considerably smaller competitor really doesn’t reflect well on them at all. It suggests that they feel at least a little bit threatened that there are a lot of games like Diablo, and it raises questions if they’re actually unsure that they can compete.
Really, this does a disservice to the actual developers making Diablo games under Fergusson’s supervision, but we’re in no position to tell him or Blizzard how to run their company.
