Last Epoch referrals have been turned off as indie developer Eleventh Hour Games works to put out fires following a busy launch. The promising new ARPG is already blowing up on Steam as players flock in amid a quiet Diablo 4 Season 3, yet unfortunately this has led to backend server and connection issues meaning many are unable to play online. Now, EHG is disabling the Last Epoch refer-a-friend program, but it’s actually good news for players as the team hands out bee pets to everyone.
Already reaching an impressive all-time Steam concurrent user peak of 176,035 in its first two days, Last Epoch is already off to a rather impressive start – that’s just over six times the peak that its bigger-name rival Diablo 4 has reached on Steam, although it’s important to remember that the Blizzard RPG game launched first on the Battle.net client, which is probably where most players play. Nevertheless, it’s quite the start for Eleventh Hour, although the game’s recent user reviews currently sit at a ‘mixed’ 63% as players are left locked out of the online mode (overall reviews remain ‘mostly positive’ at the time of writing).
Eleventh Hour CEO Judd Cobler is keeping players updated on the game’s forum and Discord, and notes that “online services are recovering and we’re monitoring stability.” He also addresses the refer-a-friend system, which requires you to get three other players to input your referral code to earn special bee pets.
“We have heard your concerns with the current refer-a-friend system implementation and will be temporarily disabling it,” Cobler writes. “Because we aren’t fans of letting a small issue ruin the fun for others, we will be granting everyone who owns a copy of Last Epoch all three of the bee pets.” That’s right; whether you’ve ever handed out a referral code or not, you’ll still get all of the possible rewards. Now that’s a nice way to resolve the issue.
“Our current plan is to monitor the situation and grant all three bee pets and the Autumnal Wrap [the previous free reward, a thank you to users for patience during server issues] to everyone who owns Last Epoch no later than Friday March 1. We very much appreciate the continued support while we work through these issues,” Cobler says in conclusion.
The good news is that while the Last Epoch server status has been somewhat unstable, you can play Last Epoch offline if you’re unable to log into the online mode. It’s not ideal, especially if you’re looking to play with friends or trade items with the Merchant’s Guild, but it’s a welcome backup option – and as our Last Epoch review notes, it’s well worth your time.
Just getting started? We’ve ranked the best Last Epoch classes for new players to get you off on the right foot, along with a guide to how Last Epoch crafting works and how to quickly make the best gear you can get your hands on.
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