Deep and delightful action role-playing game Path of Exile 2 will effectively be Steam Deck verified by the end of this month, developer Grinding Gear Games has told me.
Valve’s actual verification may come a little later, but the changes Path of Exile 2 needs to achieve it will land with patch 0.5.0 on 29th May. This will be the last major patch for Path of Exile 2 in early access, by the way, with the next major moment being Path of Exile 2’s full 1.0 release, which is apparently happening this year.
Game director and studio co-founder Jonathan Rogers told me about the Steam Deck changes while discussing whether Grinding Gear Games has done any exploratory work getting Path of Exile 2 on Switch 2. The last time we spoke, at the end of 2025, the studio hadn’t.
“We still haven’t done any stuff with Switch 2,” Rogers told me, but then continued: “You know what we have done, actually: we’ve done all the work we need to do to get Steam Deck verified for 0.5.0, so that means adding all the UI scaling options that we need so that all the different parts the UI can be scaled, and then setting the defaults for Steam Deck so you’ve got all the text and stuff right, and making sure that we’re play-testing it and getting all that stuff done. We’re making sure that it’s a good experience on Steam Deck this time.
“The actual verification might be after that,” he added, “because once you’ve actually submitted the update, then you can get Valve to officially verify it. But as far as we can tell, we’ve done all the things that need to happen for that to happen.”
“We’re making sure that it’s a good experience on Steam Deck this time” -Jonathan Rogers
Path of Exile 2 is currently available in early access on PC and console – PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X – so a Switch 2 version of the game, certainly in light of full Steam Deck support, would make a lot of sense. Blizzard’s competing Diablo series found a lot of success on Switch hardware, and though there’s no Switch 2 version of Diablo 4, recent sightings of Diablo 4 expansion Lord of Hatred on the Indonesian age-rating website suggest there soon will be.
Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5.0, Return of the Ancients, was announced yesterday and it’s a whopper, primarily focused on overhauling the endgame, adding much more to it and adding purpose and guidance through it. This comes from new questlines designed to lead you through the endgame Atlas world and keep track of your progress there. That’s on top of huge new areas added to it, such as the sea, which is now explorable, and a gigantic fortress.
There are also a couple of changes to Path of Exile 2 classes, notably new ascendancy (specialisation) options for the Monk and Huntress, which I mention because I am eternally a monk fan. But it’s the Huntress’ Spirit Walker ascendancy that has perhaps the most alluring power of any class in the game: the ability to tame bosses and have them fight with you. The bosses have to be considered beasts, but otherwise, you’re apparently free to tame whichever beast boss you wish.
There’s still a lot to add to Path of Exile 2 to make it 1.0 ready and feature complete – notably two campaign Acts, Act 5 and Act 6. These are apparently nearly finished, but as the finishing line rapidly approaches, it means some previously promised Path of Exile 2 classes won’t make it in time for release.
