A new security breach is trying to pump the brakes on Path Of Exile 2's overwhelmingly positive late 2024 launch, as a mysterious hack appears to be making the rounds in the new RPG, although the source of the vulnerability is yet to be identified. According to a growing number of posts on the Path of Exile 2 forum, subreddit, and even the game's Steam reviews, players are apparently logging into their PoE 2 accounts only to find that all their loot and gear they've now spent dozens or even hundreds of hours grinding for, has been removed from their accounts. The most alarming thing is that nobody seems to know how these hacks are happening. Some players say they changed their main email address and Steam login passwords days before they were hacked, and most seem to have no Steam 2FA requests, suggesting that there is either a security issue with the Path of Exile 2 game servers or there is some sort of session hijacking happening that is giving bad actors access to player accounts.

Until now, Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind Path of Exile 2, has not openly commented on the hacking incidents, with a single comment from the support team on the forum advising players to email support about it if they encounter such instances. According to the Steam review mentioning an account hacking incident, however, the player managed to track down the hacker on his own, subsequently contacted support and posted about it in the PoE 2 forum, and asked the moderator to assist in preventing the sale of the rest of his goods. This attempt was apparently enough to get the gamer's forum posts removed and put on probation. Meanwhile, the support request was met even more unkindly, with PoE 2 support going so far as to lock him out of his own account. He also isn't alone, with others in the Path of Exile 2 forum reporting that sharing the in-game name of their alleged hacker with support has led to their game account being locked.Some have theorized that the hacks are linked to real-money trading or third-party in-game overlays or mods, however this has been refuted by a number of victims in the game forum. Currently, it seems like players have little hopes of getting the gear or items they lost in the hacks back, since adding a swathe of rare items into the game's economy out of the blue would likely be bad for the overall balance.

For the time being, until Grinding Gear Games finds a way to reliably deal with the hackers, it looks like players will just have to be extra careful who they interact with and how they keep their online gaming world secure, although there seemingly isn't much security from this threat in the likes of strong passwords or even Steam 2FA. While Path of Exile 2 is still in early access, meaning oversights and bugs are to be expected, it is also a paid early access period, so many gamers somewhat reasonably expect that security issues would be dealt with more swiftly and decisively than they have been so far.