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Hyper Magazine: Game of the Year 2013 (jointly won with Papers, Please)

Grinding Gear Games' dedication to supporting Path of Exile is spectacular. Not only do they actively interact with their player community, taking on feedback, answering questions and fixing bugs nearly as soon as they spring up, they are forever striving to make an already stellar game better. The seasons and leagues allow the developers to try out new things while keeping the players involved, and the end result is a continuously improving game.

While the parallel with Diablo 2 is obvious, it's the game's similarities to that other brilliant RPG - Dark Souls - which make Path of Exile Game of the Year material. Both are superficially daunting, Dark Souls through its complex combat and Path of Exile through its awe-inspiring skill tree, but to the knowledgeable player they both offer a deep and rewarding game hinging on stat driven systems, strong cooperative play and a brilliant world with hidden lore for players to find. Most of all the game has a Dark Souls-esque approach to learning, with dramatic punishments for failure allowing for a massive feeling of achievement upon success. Whether you're an explorer, a tourist or a viewer, Path of Exile caters to every sort of player.

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PC PowerPlay: Game of the Year 2013

Whereas the massively budgeted Blizzard game opted for streamlining, accessibility and a real money transaction model that allowed players to use real cash to buy gear (and advantage) in game, Path of Exile instead gives players a huge range of choice regarding skills and builds, all but requires theorycrafting and had a microtransaction scheme that allows players to buy cosmetic effects for their characters or, for enough money, help create an in-game item or creature. Grinding Gear Games set about making the kind of action RPG they wanted to play and funded it in a manner that is both fair to players and makes them beholden to no outside pressures. So far the formula has proven wildly successful - Path of Exile currently has over 4 million registered users. Not bad for a small team from NZ.