Grinding Gear Games
Neuseeländisches Studio aus Auckland, seit 2006 aktiv und bekannt für die Action-Rollenspiele Path of Exile und Path of Exile 2.
Grinding Gear Games is a studio (AA, Publisher) based in Auckland, Neuseeland. PlayInsider covers 1 game by Grinding Gear Games: Path of Exile 2 (80). There is 1 news article about the studio and its games.
Grinding Gear Games is the best-known game studio in New Zealand. For almost two decades the Auckland team has stood for a single genre: dark action RPGs with enormous build variety. With Path of Exile it created one of the most enduring free-to-play games on PC, and Path of Exile 2 is now following as its successor.
Table of contents
The history of Grinding Gear Games
Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006 in Auckland by Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, who met while studying computer science at the University of Auckland. The studio started in Wilson's garage in the suburb of New Lynn. Shortly after, Swedish designer Erik Olofsson, whom Wilson had met online, joined them. In 2008 the team moved into its first office in Titirangi, and by 2012 18 people were working at the studio.
The breakthrough with Path of Exile
The studio's first game was Path of Exile. It was financed in part through pre-sales of cosmetic items, which raised more than 245,000 US dollars in the first six days. The open beta started in January 2013, and version 1.0 was released on 23 October 2013. Since then Grinding Gear Games has relied on a fair free-to-play model without pay-to-win and regularly delivers big expansions and new leagues.
Tencent and growth
In 2017 Tencent published Path of Exile in China, and in 2018 the Chinese company acquired a majority stake in Grinding Gear Games. In March 2024 the founders sold their remaining shares, and since then the studio has been wholly owned by Tencent. Creatively, Grinding Gear Games continues to work independently in New Zealand; in 2025 around 240 people worked at the studio.
Path of Exile 2
With Path of Exile 2 the studio is tackling its big sequel. Early Access started on 6 December 2024, and version 1.0 launches as a free-to-play title on 11 December 2026. Besides PC, the game is also available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
