Last Epoch is in hot water with its player base after developer Eleventh Hour Games announced that new Paradox Classes will be sold as paid DLC when the Orobyss expansion launches in 2026. This directly contradicts years of explicit promises that all post-launch gameplay content would remain free forever. The announcement has sparked outrage across Reddit, Steam forums, and Discord, with many players calling it a betrayal of trust.
The timing couldn’t be worse. This news comes just months after South Korean publisher Krafton acquired Eleventh Hour Games for a reported $96 million in mid-2024. The company behind PUBG now fully owns the studio and IP, and players are connecting the dots between the acquisition and this sudden policy reversal.
What Exactly Was Promised
Eleventh Hour Games didn’t just casually suggest content would be free. They made explicit, repeated promises throughout the game’s development since their 2018 Kickstarter campaign. The studio consistently told backers and players that cosmetic sales and base game purchases would fund all future gameplay content at no additional cost.
As recently as July 2025, just before the Krafton acquisition announcement, developers assured the community this model would continue. The promise was central to their marketing and a major reason many players supported the game during its lengthy early access period. Now that foundation has crumbled.
The New Paradox Class System
So what exactly are players being asked to pay for? According to the roadmap released in late November 2025, Paradox Classes represent a new category of playable character built on systems that work differently from anything else in Last Epoch. The first Paradox Class will debut alongside the Orobyss expansion as separate paid DLC.
The studio hasn’t revealed pricing yet, but the community reaction suggests the cost is almost beside the point. Players feel blindsided by the shift from a promised model where gameplay remained on equal footing for all owners to one where paying customers get access to entirely new character systems.
Key details about the arrangement:
- The Orobyss expansion itself will be free for existing PC players who own the game before launch
- New players and PlayStation 5 buyers will get the base game, all seasons, and Orobyss bundled together at one price
- The base game price may increase to reflect the included expansion content
- Only the Paradox Classes will be sold as separate optional DLC
- The expansion and future seasons launch before Orobyss, likely pushing the paid class to late summer or fall 2026
Why The Studio Says It Had To Change Course
In statements following the backlash, Eleventh Hour Games CEO Judd Cobler explained that Last Epoch was operating in the red. The acquisition by Krafton essentially saved the project from potential shutdown. The current monetization model based solely on cosmetics and new player purchases wasn’t generating enough revenue to sustain ongoing development.
The studio claims Krafton isn’t forcing these changes but rather enabling them to continue development at all. Without additional revenue streams, the argument goes, Last Epoch would eventually fade away. Better to introduce paid classes than shut down entirely.
But players aren’t buying it. Many point out that the game launched in an incomplete state and still has numerous unresolved issues that should take priority over paid content.
The State of Last Epoch Right Now
Understanding the controversy requires context about where Last Epoch currently stands as a product. The game officially launched version 1.0 in February 2024 after years in early access, but many players argue it still feels unfinished:
| Issue | Current Status |
|---|---|
| Campaign Completion | Only 10 of planned 12 story acts exist; full campaign estimated for 2027 |
| Class Balance | Same dominant builds each season; many classes ignored for balance updates |
| Bug Fixes | Numerous skill bugs and system issues persist months after launch |
| Visual Polish | Some unique items still lack proper 3D models |
| Endgame Content | Improved with recent patches but felt thin at 1.0 launch |
The fact that the studio is introducing paid classes while the base game remains incomplete feels particularly egregious to the community. Players expected their purchase and continued support to fund completion of promised features, not subsidize the development of paywalled content.
The Krafton Factor
While Eleventh Hour Games insists Krafton isn’t dictating these decisions, player skepticism is understandable. Krafton’s acquisition included controversy from the start. The deal was announced in July 2024 while the publisher was embroiled in a messy dispute with Unknown Worlds, developer of Subnautica 2.
That situation involved allegations that Krafton fired studio heads to seize control, delay the game’s release, and avoid a promised $250 million payout. Whether those claims are accurate or not, the timing created an immediate trust deficit when Last Epoch fans learned their beloved indie studio was now owned by the same publisher.
CEO Cobler tried to ease concerns at the time, stating that Krafton was the publisher “most aligned in the mission” and wouldn’t be “looking to change us.” Fast forward five months, and the studio is implementing the exact kind of monetization shift players feared the acquisition would bring.
How This Compares To Competitors
Last Epoch exists in a brutally competitive space. Path of Exile has dominated the free-to-play ARPG market for over a decade with cosmetic-only monetization. Path of Exile 2 launched in early access to massive numbers despite mixed reception to some of its balance changes. Diablo 4 struggles with its own identity but carries the Blizzard brand and massive marketing budget.
Last Epoch’s pitch was always about being the player-friendly alternative. Less punishing than Path of Exile, more respectful of your time than Diablo 4’s live service grind, and committed to fair monetization. That positioning made the game appealing to a specific audience tired of predatory practices elsewhere in the genre.
Introducing paid gameplay classes undermines that entire value proposition. It positions Last Epoch as just another game making compromises and breaking promises, indistinguishable from the competition it once defined itself against.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will existing Last Epoch players get the Orobyss expansion for free?
Yes, anyone who owns Last Epoch on PC before the Orobyss expansion launches will receive it as a free update. New players and PlayStation 5 buyers will get the base game, all seasonal content, and the Orobyss expansion bundled together at one price. However, the new Paradox Class will be sold separately as paid DLC for everyone.
What are Paradox Classes in Last Epoch?
Paradox Classes are a new category of playable character that work differently from existing classes in Last Epoch. The first Paradox Class will debut alongside the Orobyss expansion as paid DLC. Eleventh Hour Games hasn’t shared detailed mechanics yet, but describes them as built on entirely new systems not present in the current game.
Why are Last Epoch players angry about paid DLC?
Eleventh Hour Games repeatedly promised throughout development and early access that all post-launch gameplay content would be free forever. They made this commitment during their 2018 Kickstarter campaign and reiterated it as recently as July 2025. The introduction of paid Paradox Classes directly breaks that promise, leading players to feel betrayed and misled about what they were supporting.
Did Krafton force Last Epoch to add paid classes?
Eleventh Hour Games CEO Judd Cobler says Krafton isn’t forcing these changes. However, the studio admits Last Epoch was operating at a loss and the Krafton acquisition essentially saved the project from shutdown. The $96 million acquisition happened in mid-2024, and the paid class announcement came just months later, leading many players to connect the two events regardless of official statements.
When will the Last Epoch Orobyss expansion release?
Based on the roadmap, Orobyss will launch after Seasons 4 and 5, which are scheduled for early to mid-2026. Since Last Epoch seasons typically run around four months each, most estimates place the Orobyss expansion and first Paradox Class in late August or September 2026, though no official date has been confirmed.
Is Last Epoch still worth playing after this controversy?
That depends on your priorities. The game received praise for its recent seasonal updates, with concurrent player counts surpassing launch numbers earlier in 2025. If you enjoy the core gameplay and don’t mind supporting a developer that reversed course on monetization promises, it offers solid ARPG action. However, if developer transparency and keeping promises matter to you, this situation represents a significant breach of trust.
How much will the Paradox Class DLC cost?
Eleventh Hour Games hasn’t announced pricing for the Paradox Classes yet. They’ve only confirmed that the first one will be sold as paid DLC alongside the free Orobyss expansion. Given the community backlash, pricing will likely be a carefully considered decision with significant implications for how the controversy unfolds.
Where Things Go From Here
The community response has been overwhelmingly negative. Steam discussions show anger not just about the paid content itself but about the broken promise. Many players specifically bought Last Epoch because of its commitment to fair monetization. They feel the rug has been pulled out from under them.
Some perspective is worth noting. Games as a service need sustainable revenue models to survive long-term. Expecting years of free content from a single purchase price isn’t realistic for most studios. Path of Exile manages it through aggressive cosmetic monetization and stash tab sales. Diablo 4 does it through paid expansions and battle passes. Every approach has tradeoffs.
The problem isn’t necessarily that Last Epoch needs more revenue. The problem is the explicit, repeated promises that this specific change would never happen. If Eleventh Hour Games had been transparent about potentially needing paid expansions or DLC classes from the beginning, players could make informed decisions. Instead, they made commitments they couldn’t keep and are now facing the predictable backlash.
Whether this controversy kills Last Epoch’s momentum or becomes a footnote in a successful turnaround remains to be seen. For now, though, the indie darling that positioned itself as the player-friendly alternative has lost significant trust with the very community that championed it. And in the competitive ARPG space where player goodwill matters enormously, that might be the most expensive cost of all.