Path of Exile Coming to China in May, Ascendancy Concept Art

Grinding Gear Games and Tencent churned out a press release today announcing plans to launch the former studio’s action RPG Path of Exile in China, with an alpha testing period already beginning next month. There’s a website in Chinese with more information, and some Ascendancy concept art on the English website that can serve as something to appease the rest of us who will be entirely unaffected by this:

Grinding Gear Games Partners with Tencent to Bring Path of Exile to China

Chinese market Alpha testing for Action RPG to begin in May 2016

Auckland, New Zealand – April 5, 2016 – Grinding Gear Games recently announced at the Tencent Interactive Entertainment 2016 Annual Press Conference in Beijing that the two companies will work together to bring critically acclaimed action RPG Path of Exile to players in Mainland China. Tencent is China’s leading provider of Internet value added services, providing unparalleled access and reach for Path of Exile in the world’s largest gaming market.

Path of Exile will be available in simplified Chinese with servers based in China. The Chinese servers will operate within a separate realm that will not be connected to the game’s international realm. Existing Chinese players on Grinding Gear Games servers can opt to continue playing on GGG servers or start playing on the Chinese Tencent servers, whichever they prefer. The first Chinese Alpha test is scheduled to begin in May 2016.

Visit Tencent’s Path of Exile site for additional information.

About Path of Exile
Path of Exile is an online PC action role-playing game set in a dark fantasy world. Featuring ethical micro-transactions, the game is free-to-play, but never pay-to-win. Playing as one of seven character classes, players find themselves banished for their past misdeeds to the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. There, they encounter hundreds of species of opponents laden with loot and mysterious artifacts as they explore the abandoned continent.

Path of Exile Key Features
– Download and play for free, but never pay-to-win
– A dark and deep action RPG
– Unlimited character combinations with the game’s gigantic skill tree
– Combine skill gems to create unique combat strategies
– Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective – Explore randomly generated levels for nearly infinite 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
– Steam and Twitch integration

About Grinding Gear Games
Grinding Gear Games is an independent game studio founded in 2006 and based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its team members come from various countries and have a diversity of backgrounds ranging from artificial intelligence and software security to industrial design and professional tournament gaming. GGG recently released Path of Exile: Ascendancy, a major expansion for its flagship title, and is committed to ongoing updates and new content releases for the critically acclaimed game. You can find more information about Grinding Gear Games at www.grindinggear.com

About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information, and seek entertainment through our integrated platforms. Tencent’s diversified services include QQ, Weixin/ WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; QQ.com and Tencent News for information; and Tencent Video for video content. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. For more information, visit www.tencent.com