Following a very successful open-beta weekend, the makers of Indie Action RPG Path of Exile, New Zealand-based Grinding Gear Games, have shown that Kickstarter isn't the only way to raise money for a deserving product.

Over the Easter break, a whopping $200,000 USD was raised via a "ethical microtransaction" process, where players could pre-purchase game currency and receive rewards such as Closed Beta Keys and exclusive in-game pets in return.

The previous weekend 46,911 players stress tested the game. “We literally had hundreds of people asking how they could support the game to get to Open Beta sooner. We were blown away by the community enthusiasm at the stress test weekend, so we moved quickly to open our shop earlier than planned. We’ve been blown away again by the support over Easter,” says Grinding Gear Games’ co-founder Chris Wilson.

Path of Exile features its own dark, gritty take on the Action RPG genre, a unique skill gem system, a huge passive skill tree and PvP combat in a persistent online world.

“The crowd-funding presales mean Path of Exile will enter Open Beta in June with three acts of content. Although we plan to pile on the content for years to come, further support will greatly accelerate it and help pay for our US and European servers.”

Path of Exile plans to be a free-to-play model that operates with a micro-transaction store, however the developers have stated that they "hate the concept of pay-to-win games" and that "...it’s great to see that players are willing to support the game and to buy purely cosmetic items", giving confidence to players wary of these features.

You can check out the official website where you can purchase a Closed Beta key if you haven't yet experienced the game, or check out the game page for the latest trailers and screenshots.