Gamescom Interview with Chris and Jonathan

During Gamescom 2023, Maxroll's very own Rhykker sat down for an interview with Grinding Gear Games co-founders Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, to discuss Path of Exile 1 & 2.

Full Interview

Check out Rhykker's interview with Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers along side his experiences playing Path of Exile 2.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few of the topics from Rhykker's interview with Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, remember to watch the full version to learn all the juicy details!

• What games aside from Diablo have Path of Exile drawn inspiration from?
  • Path of Exile 2's gameplay focuses on action combat (think Dark Souls or Witcher 3).
  • Jonathan's goal is to make a game even non-ARPG players can enjoy.
  • Chris cited Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 10 (Sphere Grids, anyone?), and Magic the Gathering as inspirations for Path of Exile.
• Path of Exile has become an inspiration for others, how does this responsibility weigh on Chris and Jonathan?
  • Chris wants to ensure that Path of Exile is always there for players, to be a game they can have a lifelong relationship with.
  • Jonathan added that they're well aware it's important to remain humble, take newcomers seriously and continue innovating.
• Chris and Jonathan also gave their thoughts on player feedback and the concept of "you think you do, but you don't."
  • Chris encouraged players to give feedback, and highlight any/all problems they're having but reminded people to avoid personal attacks.
  • Jonathan also discussed how responding to player feedback isn't a matter of concessions.
  • Players and devs aren't enemies, and instead it's about working together to find ways to resolve the issues players are experiencing.
• An example of implementing player feedback was players wanting items to be automatically picked up.
  • In this case Chris talked about how they isolated the problem, it wasn't that items aren't automatically picked up. Instead the core issue was "there's too much to click" leading to player frustrations.
  • The solution GGG implemented was currency items dropping less frequency but in larger stacks.
  • You get 6 Orbs of Alchemy once, instead of Orb of Alchemy 6 times in your map.

Hungry for More?

We hope you enjoyed Rhykker's Gamescom 2023 interview with Grinding Gear Games co-founders Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, discussing Path of Exile 1 and 2. For another interview, and more Path of Exile 2 content, check out one of our other articles.

PoE2 Beta Date

ExileCon Wrapup

Pax West Interview

Path of Exile 2 Approaching

For more, head over to our Discord and select the Path of Exile role in #roles to stay up to date with our content, and Path of Exile 2 updates! Stay sane, Exile!

Written by: Tenkiei

Reviewed by: Xtra37