Grinding Gear Games is expanding the content for Path of Exile with the impending launch of open beta in December. Dubbed the Act 3 expansion, the new update will introduce PvP arena combat along with new areas that include Sarn’s abandoned docks, markets, temples and sewers.

Path of Exile has already raised over $1.2 million in crowd-funding through the sale of pre-purchase packs for the free-to-play title that comes with in-game items and beta access. Visit the Path of Exile website to learn more.

The Mysteries Deepen in Action RPG Path of Exile’s Third Act

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – 17 October 2012 – Upcoming dark and deep indie action RPG Path of Exile has unveiled details of its Act 3 expansion. Set in the ruined city of Sarn, players will face those who exiled them to Wraeclast and how it was corrupted.

Act 3 will become available when Path of Exile enters Open Beta in December. The game is currently in Closed Beta but has already raised over USD$1.2m in crowd-funded support, with those supporters gaining beta access.

PvP arena combat will be introduced in the next major patch, making the wait for Act 3 more bearable but bloodier. The game’s gigantic skill tree and skill gem combo system means thousands of unique character builds will be able to challenge each other.

“Act 3 adds an extra 50% of content to Path of Exile’s world,” says Grinding Gear Games producer Chris Wilson. “Our already gritty game gets a lot darker as players explore Sarn and witness the full extent of the corruption and cataclysm. High-level characters will really enjoy some of the enemy encounters and combat challenges.”

Path of Exile’s lore and mysteries deepens as you explore Sarn’s abandoned docks, markets, temples and sewers. For reasons unknown, General Gravicius and the Ebony Legion have sailed from your homeland Oriath to scour Sarn for its secrets, joining Piety of Theopolis in a race against the player to plunder Sarn’s tombs for wealth and power.

In the Solaris Temple, a magical army of floating constructs known as the Ribbons continually sterilize the temple even as the centuries wear on. Even though thaumaturgist Malachai the Soulless is long dead, evidence of his dark experiments remain.

In addition to undead, magical constructs and corrupted horrors, players will encounter some unlikely allies. An encampment of exiles survive on the man-made island in the middle of the river, led by wise and well-spoken Karui warrior Maramoa.

When released, the game will be free to play, but not ‘pay-to-win’. The game is currently in a Closed Beta, but fans who pre-purchase at least USD$10 of credit for the game’s ‘ethical microtransactions’ receive a beta key. Beta keys are also regularly awarded to random community members.

To take part, sign up at www.pathofexile.com

About Sarn:

A shattered city, a sinister mystery, a land tainted with insanity.

You’re standing at the edge of Sarn, the ruined capital of the Eternal Empire. Not so eternal now. Its citizenry is gone, taken by death and undeath in equal measures. Where hawkers shouted their bargains, ladies browsed for silks, young lovers walked hand in hand... creatures of nightmare stalk and feed. Beasts born of corruption. The restless dead, bitter and lethal. A cursed city of painful promises and preternatural peril.

You are an exile, banished for your crimes to Wraeclast, and given a life sentence in the land of the damned. But Wraeclast wasn’t always like this. It was once an empire of ten million souls, a beautiful and bountiful continent that prospered for more than a thousand years.

Something happened. A cataclysm. A corruption beyond reason. Wraeclast took itself off to bed one balmy evening and, come morning, it failed to wake. It slumbers, tossing and turning in the perpetual nightmare that enslaved it during the darkest hours.

Players must fight their way through the necropolis to answer a question: Who murdered Wraeclast?

You’re not alone in your curiosity. Others explore the twisted capital city of the Eternal Empire. The Ebony Legion has sailed from Oriath to scour Sarn for its secrets... avaricious maggots on a fecund carcass. General Gravicius plunders its tombs for wealth and power.

Piety of Theopolis harnesses corruption like a lover to her bedhead. Her lovely visage hides an imagination most monstrous.

Is everyone and everything in Sarn out to kill or maim you beyond recognition? Pretty much... with a few exceptions. As a fellow exile, Hargan, will tell you: “Welcome to dirty, old Sarn, the metropolis of opportunity. The opportunity to make something of yourself or the opportunity to have a very messy death.”

Key features of ‘Path of Exile’:

• A dark and deep action RPG
• Build unlimited unique characters on a gigantic skill tree
• Combine over 110 skill gems to create unique combat strategies
• Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective
• Download and play for free, but never ‘pay-to-win’
• Explore randomly generated levels for extreme 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

View gameplay footage at www.youtube.com/grindinggear

HD trailers are available from www.pathofexile.com/video