Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson has started a new game studio: 'I wanted to be creative in a way that didn't involve being a CEO of a 200 person company'

Over the weekend, Chris Wilson, co-founder of Path of Exile developer Grinding Gear Games, surprised ARPG devotees with an unexpected announcement. During an hourlong interview with Diablo designer David Brevik in celebration of Diablo 2's 25th anniversary, Wilson revealed that he's started a new game development studio, and that he's already got a new game project underway.

An official filing says that Wilson's capacity as Grinding Gear Games director ended in February 2025, marking his departure from the studio he'd cofounded in 2006. Wilson's own website, however, says that he'd left the role earlier, having stepped down at the end of 2023 "after running Grinding Gear Games for 17 years."

After the open beta release of Path of Exile in 2013, Wilson became the studio's public face, gradually becoming synonymous with the updates and additions revealed during league announcements throughout the game's development.

In May 2018, after publishing Path of Exile's Chinese release, Tencent acquired an 87% majority shareholding of Grinding Gear Games. Wilson and fellow GGG co-founders Jonathan Rogers and Erik Olofsson maintained a 13% ownership stake until they sold their remaining shares to Tencent in March 2024.

In his interview with Brevik, Wilson said he took "a year of retirement" after leaving Grind Gear, which he spent traveling and "sorting my Magic cards and so on." (As "things you can do after selling your company" go, that's a respectable choice.)

"I spent a year doing that after GGG and it was relaxing, but I had the itch that I wanted to be creative again. And I wanted to be creative in a way that didn't involve being a CEO of a 200 person company," Wilson said.

After realizing "the most fun I had making Path of Exile was jamming in my garage with Jonathan and Eric in the early days," Wilson founded Light Pattern earlier this year, which he calls "a small studio with some friends."

Wilson confirmed that he and Light Pattern are already working on a game, and while the studio won't be in a position to discuss any details for some time, he said going public with the studio on a Diablo 2 anniversary wasn't a coincidence.

"We're working on a small project that I don't intend to talk about—potentially—for a number of years," Wilson said. "My only clue is that it's somewhat telling that we're talking about that today."

Also telling is that an Art Director job posting on the Light Pattern website says the studio is looking for candidates who possess "a deep familiarity with Diablo II. Not just playing it, but understanding what makes its world, art, and systems so enduring."

I don't want to brag, but—thanks to my skills in deduction—I believe I'm detecting a trend.