Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas expansion sets new peak concurrent player record

pcgamer.com:

The newest Path of Exile expansion, Siege of the Atlas, lets players build their own endgame  by revamping the Atlas of Worlds—which is basically the core of the game at this point. Seven players have already beaten the expansion by taking down godlike beings The Maven, The Searing Exarch, and The Eater of Worlds by taking them down in the Hardcore Solo Self-found Archnemesis League, which is really impressive but probably gibberish if you don't play Path of Exile and never have.

Perhaps more comprehensible is that the now quite old action RPG has hit a new record for peak concurrent players: 270,260 people were playing at once over the weekend, says Grinding Gear Games. That's a peak for time since Path of Exile launched over eight years ago in October 2013. Apparently the peak started building on Friday the 4th, but kept rising, so that Grinding Gear could only be sure it wouldn't be surpassed until today.

Over the weekend, we launched Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas. We're pleased to report that deployment was extremely smooth with no major issues! We also hit a new record for peak concurrent players at 270,260!https://t.co/5Z05EfnZHP pic.twitter.com/IC0RvkUCn6February 6, 2022

Path of Exile's latest expansion, Siege of the Atlas, allows players to draw from that entire eight year history of the game by mixing and matching levels to play in the Atlas of Worlds. That means all the old content is pretty much unlocked, and you get to use it to pursue the new bosses and some old ones. There's also an entirely new, massive skill grid… but instead of applying modifers to your character, it applies modifiers to your Atlas of Worlds playlist. You can now ensure that you favorite kinds of monsters, loot, and environments