Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access on December 11, 2026, and it will be completely free to play on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Grinding Gear Games confirmed the full 1.0 package at ExileCon 2026 in Auckland: two new classes, the Shadow and the Duelist; a finished six-act campaign; a rebuilt endgame; and a new challenge league, Conquerors of Wraeclast. If you have been waiting for the game to be finished before jumping in, this is the moment.
The date itself is not new — GGG set December 11 back in August — but until ExileCon, nobody outside the studio knew what would actually ship alongside it. The keynote, delivered by game director Jonathan Rogers on November 7, filled in the blanks, and the picture is bigger than a simple version-number bump. Version 1.0 is a reorganization of the whole game for full service, not just the next league patch.
What ExileCon actually confirmed
The headline numbers: 10 playable classes at launch out of the 12 GGG originally promised, with the remaining two arriving in later updates, and 26 Ascendancy classes in total. The campaign will finally be complete, Acts 5 and 6 joining the four acts available during Early Access. A new challenge league, Conquerors of Wraeclast, starts with the launch. And the endgame — the part of Path of Exile that keeps players grinding for hundreds of hours — gets a major overhaul.
One thing GGG has not confirmed is a launch hour. The date is December 11 Pacific time, which means players outside the Americas will mostly see it land on December 12 in local time. Do not trust a specific unlock time unless it comes from GGG directly.
The Shadow: stealth, daggers, and traps
The Shadow is the brand-new class, and it is built around a mechanic Path of Exile has never had before: stealth. The Shadow fights with daggers and traps, and it draws on a unique resource called Darkness. Monsters cannot see a stealthed Shadow until they get within a short distance, and dagger skills gain bonuses while the Shadow stays hidden.
Hands-on reports from the ExileCon show floor suggest the stealth has none of the usual drawbacks — no movement penalty, no crouching behind cover. The signature ability shown in the demo was Shroud, which applies stealth and deploys a shade that damages and blinds nearby enemies. The Shadow’s two Ascendancies are Assassin and Infiltrator, which look set to split between direct damage and traps and misdirection, though GGG has not detailed either yet.
The Duelist: swords and stances
The Duelist is the second new class, and it has been the worst-kept secret in the game. GGG showed it off in a deep dive back in August, and it arrives with an entirely new weapon type. Everything points to swords — the August footage and an earlier client leak both line up — but GGG has not named the weapon type in writing, so treat swords as a very strong inference rather than a confirmed fact.
What is confirmed is the fighting style: the Duelist is built around swords and stances, a deliberate, technical melee class. Its two Ascendancies are Knight and Master-at-Arms. Neither the Shadow nor the Duelist is playable in Early Access — both arrive on launch day, which makes December 11 the first chance anyone gets to build around them.
Acts 5 and 6 finish the campaign
The biggest structural change in 1.0 is the completed campaign. During Early Access, only part of the story was playable; version 1.0 adds Acts 5 and 6, completing a story that spans six acts. For returning players, that means the campaign finally has an ending. For new players, it means the full game is there from the first login, with no act-gated content waiting on a future patch.
GGG’s framing matters here. The studio has described 1.0 as reorganizing a game that grew through separate updates into a coherent whole for full official service. Expect the campaign, the league, and the endgame to feel like one game rather than a stack of updates — that is the promise, at least, and launch week will be the test.
Conquerors of Wraeclast and the endgame overhaul
The launch league is Conquerors of Wraeclast, and it starts with 1.0. GGG has not yet spelled out the league mechanic in full, which is normal this far out — league details usually land in the weeks before launch, and the studio has a reveal stream cycle it follows for every league start.
The endgame overhaul is the part veterans should watch closest. Path of Exile lives or dies on its endgame, and GGG has signaled that 1.0 reworks it substantially rather than just adding a few maps. Exact details are still thin, so if you are planning a league-start build, wait for the full patch notes and the pre-launch reveal rather than theorycrafting off the keynote alone.
What it costs, and what to do before launch
Nothing. Path of Exile 2 goes fully free-to-play on December 11 — no purchase required, ever, on any platform. Early Access players who bought in keep their supporter packs and cosmetics, but the paywall is gone for everyone else. The game launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with parties of up to six and couch co-op on the table.
If you plan to play on day one, a few practical steps are worth doing now. GGG has a registration page at pathofexile2.com where sign-ups unlock milestone rewards as the community hits targets — worth a look if you want the freebies. And if you are on the fence about which class to start with, hold off on committing until the pre-launch reveal: the Shadow and Duelist have no published skill gems or Ascendancy details yet, and a class that looks great in a trailer can play very differently in your hands.
One side note for fans of the original game: Path of Exile 1 is not standing still. Its Covens of Umbra league arrives November 13, so the two games will be competing for your attention within a month of each other. For most players, though, the decision is simple. December 11 is the day Path of Exile 2 stops being an Early Access promise and becomes a finished, free game — and with two new classes and a complete campaign, it is the best entry point the game has ever had.
This one might be worth playing! POE was always fun.