Last Epoch’s Season 3 Launch Sees Strong Start Amid Mixed Community Sentiment
Published on: 8/28/2025
Last Epoch kicked off its third season, Beneath Ancient Skies, on August 21, and the first week has been anything but quiet. With sweeping content additions and a notable spike in player activity, developer Eleventh Hour Games has reignited interest in the time-warping ARPG. But while the numbers are promising, community reactions reveal a more nuanced picture.
A Surge in Player Count
According to Steam Charts, Last Epoch saw a peak of 80,180 concurrent players in the first week of Season 3, a dramatic jump from July’s peak of just over 4,900. This surge places it among the top-performing ARPGs on Steam for the month, rivaling even Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2 in short-term engagement.
The uptick is largely attributed to the new seasonal content, Twitch drops, and a wave of returning players disillusioned by competing titles.
What’s New in Season 3
Season 3 introduces a wealth of new features:
• Chapter 10: A continuation of the campaign with 17 new zones and 28 new enemies
• Primal Hunts: A new endgame mechanic focused on evolving Rift Beasts for loot and crafting materials
• Primordial Items: A new gear tier with expanded affix slots and unique crafting potential
• New Skill – Flay: A hybrid melee/spell ability for the Lich class
• Class Reworks: Major updates to Necromancer, Beastmaster, and Acolyte passives and skills
• Faction Enhancements: New tokens and perks for the Merchant and Woven factions
• QoL Improvements: Loot filter upgrades, stash macros, and crafting UI refinements
Community Reaction: A Tale of Two Moods
While many players have praised the depth and ambition of the update, others have voiced concerns about pacing, polish, and lingering bugs.
On Reddit and Discord, some players celebrated the return of meaningful crafting and the flexibility of the new Primordial system. Others criticized the campaign’s length and the lack of innovation in core combat mechanics.
Technical issues also marred the launch for some, with online mode suffering from intermittent disconnects and desync. Eleventh Hour Games has acknowledged these problems and pushed several hotfixes within the first week.
