Path Of Exile Devs Working Overtime To Compensate For The Harvest League Delay
Delayed launches and updates have become more common these past few months as video game developers adjusted to the remote working conditions because of the pandemic. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big problem unless you’re working on a strict development schedule like Grinding Gear Games. Apparently, the one week delay in rolling out the Path of Exile Harvest expansion has thrown a wrench into their well-oiled expansion production line.
“Normally we operate on a 13-week development cycle, launching one expansion per season. These expansions always occur in March, June, September and December. Since Harvest required 14 weeks of development, this means that if we do not adjust our schedule, the September and December expansions would hit quite late in these months. For the September expansion, this would likely be fine but for the December expansion, it would be dangerously close to Christmas when many of our staff would be taking time off to spend with their families. Fewer developers would be on standby to help out if any issues arise.”
To get back on track, the developers will be working to get the September expansion out in just 12 weeks. “It's a much larger league than Harvest, so we had to begin work on this expansion about a month early. We believe we can successfully launch within this time frame,” writes Grinding Gear on the official forums. “This would also mean that if everything goes well, our December expansion can also occur earlier and leave more room prior to the holiday period.”
The Path of Exile 2 Beta, which was initially scheduled for late this year, will also have to be pushed back because of the schedule delays caused by the pandemic. “We have been focusing on keeping our leagues coming out as close to on time as possible, and this does mean some delays for the sequel. We are looking forward to our next announcement about its upcoming content, and we'll keep piling on any technology improvements we can make into the existing Path of Exile client.”
Head over to the Path of Exile official forums for more details.
