Path of Exile Open Beta Now Live

Auckland, New Zealand--January 23, 2013--Grinding Gear Games announced today that the Open Beta for the free action role-playing game (RPG) Path of Exile is now live. Players may now experience Act 3 of the Path of Exile story, where they can explore abandoned docks, markets, temples and sewers in the ruined city of Sarn to uncover the dark truth of their exile. The company also stressed there will be no further character wipes after the Open Beta launch. 

The highly anticipated game has already raised over USD$2.36 million in crowd-funded support, with those supporters gaining early access in the earlier closed beta, as well as some exclusive items. 

"We've had amazing support from our community throughout development," said Chris Wilson, producer for Grinding Gear Games. "Their belief in our vision is making is possible to deliver a great game." 

Path of Exile was recently named "Players' Choice Best Upcoming Game" by Indie DB. Over 78,000 readers voted in the awards. Massively says of the game, "[Path of Exile] is a great package. It's a F2P action RPG that holds up well to its competitors, and in many cases, pushes beyond my expectations."

Path of Exile is a PC online action role-playing game set in a dark fantasy world. Featuring ethical microtransactions, the game is free-to-play, but not pay-to-win. Playing as one of six character classes, players find themselves banished for their past misdeeds to the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. There, they will encounter hundreds of species of opponents laden with loot and mysterious artifacts as they explore the abandoned continent.

Key features of Path of Exile:

• A dark and deep action RPG[/*]
• Build unlimited unique characters on a gigantic skill tree[/*]
• Combine over 110 skill gems to create unique combat strategies[/*]
• Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective[/*]
• Download and play for free, but never 'pay-to-win'[/*]
• Explore randomly generated levels for extreme replayability[/*]
• Craft weapons, magic items and even end-game maps to become more powerful[/*]
• Cooperate or compete with thousands of other exiles in a persistent online world[/*]
• Ascend online ladders in every game mode[/*]
• Battle in PVP tournaments for worldwide recognition[/*]
• View gameplay footage at www.youtube.com/grindinggear, or HD trailers are available from www.pathofexile.com/video [/*]

About Grinding Gear Games

Grinding Gear Games was founded in November 2006 in Auckland, New Zealand. Its founding members come from various countries and have a selection of diverse backgrounds ranging from artificial intelligence and software security to industrial design to professional tournament game play. We are currently developing Path of Exile, a competitive online action RPG. As veterans of various online role playing games, we understand what is required to make an addictive action RPG with visceral combat and a complex item economy. www.grindinggear.com ;

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