NC's own announcements summarised, our articles, and short dated notes on what changed on the road to the global launch, including what Korea got that the global build will not have on day one. Every note links to where it came from.
Image: NC, official AION 2 screenshot via Steam
Global launch
5 Oct 2026
free-to-play, Steam + PURPLE
Countdown
soon
to 13:00 UTC, the hour Steam's listing implies (AION2 Hub); NC has not confirmed it
War for Atreia: captains, schedule and scoring published
The six captains are Stoopzz and SONII for North America, Wakayashi and BagginsTV for Europe, and Rakin and Tixinhadois for Latin America, each leading a ten-creator legion. First Strike streams on September 30 at 10 AM PDT, with check-ins on October 5 and 12 and the finals on October 15; points come from progression, PvE, PvP, Twitch hours and special War Orders, with weekly caps on repeatable activities. Viewer rewards are promised but still unnamed.
Korea · Another 3,667 Korean accounts banned for botting
NC's 313th restriction notice covers 3,667 accounts flagged for gold-farming operations and unauthorised programs, including macro use. Players who believe they were caught by mistake, or placed under a temporary protective lock, are told to appeal through customer support.
Korea · Emergency maintenance staggers Abyss battles to ease server load
After traffic spikes during the September 23 Abyss core-occupation battles and boss fights caused brief disconnects, NC took the Korean servers down for an hour and widened the gap between matching-server groups from five to ten minutes, so start times now fall at 22:00, 22:10 and 22:20. Everyone could claim a supply box with revive and combat consumables until September 25 as compensation.
Thirty beginner tips from Mein-MMO ahead of launch
The German outlet's starter guide stresses that faction choice is permanent, that item level 1,000 is the target before finishing the story, and that most endgame activities reset weekly with flexible timing. It also recommends joining a guild early for passive buffs and weekly currency.
1,000-hour review from Korea: strong tech, weak UI
Mein-MMO summarised creator Kanon's verdict after a thousand hours on the Korean version: 9/10 performance and rewarding progression, but simple combat, repetitive endgame and a 'mobile-esque' UI scored 4/10. His overall score was 8.3, against a 7.2 aggregate.
Korea · Fire Temple trial replaces Vakron Sky Island, Chuseok events begin
The rotating Trial now sends level-50, item-level-4,800 groups into the Fire Temple with a modular difficulty system worth 4 to 16 stages across time, revive, boss-enhance and player-weaken sliders. Chuseok brings a 28-day attendance calendar to October 28 and a Full Moon Merchant to October 7, and Soul Engraving gained an auto-tune button.
Massively OP first impressions: 'surprisingly familiar'
After the scale test, Massively OP praised near-immediate flight and smooth performance but called early combat far too easy and the quest design generic, echoing the original Aion's strengths and weaknesses. The writer noted Asmodians appear to have lost some bestial features in the Western version and that the Brawler is not part of the global launch.
Steam's release timestamp points to 6 AM PDT / 9 AM EDT / 2 PM BST / 3 PM CEST / 10 PM JST. NC has not put the hour in a notice, so it could still shift; the Early Access start time on September 30 is likewise unannounced.
'War for Atreia' creator event runs from Early Access day
Sixty creators from three regions, split between Elyos and Asmodians under six captains, compete for two weeks starting September 30. NC announced it in a YouTube video only; scoring, rosters, watch platform and viewer rewards were not specified.
Test wrap-up: player-to-player trading disabled, priority queue for members
NC confirmed direct trades are off as an anti-bot measure, with the Market as the only trading hub, and that 'members in good standing' enter a priority queue when servers fill. The privilege can be revoked for disciplinary reasons. Steam testers must uninstall the Playtest app and download the retail client for Early Access.
Four fixes shipped before day 2: a larger interaction radius on quest objects, appearance-change tickets blocked below level 10, a corrected chat/macro reporting error, and client crash fixes. Around 24 hours of maintenance separated the two sessions.
Community datamine: the global build is tuned differently from Korea
Creator Madsin compared the test client with the live Korean client and found lower percentage stats across soul-binding, Daevanion nodes and pets, tighter enhancement caps (+5 rare, +10 blue), a pet level cap of 3, and cheaper dungeon entry requirements. NC has published no patch notes on these differences, so treat the list as unofficial and subject to change at launch.
Scale test day 1: two extra EU server pairs opened within 90 minutes
NC added Vaizel (Elyos) and Triniel (Asmodian) 48 minutes into the session, then Kaisinel (Elyos) and Lumiel (Asmodian) 40 minutes later. Server names are faction-specific, confirming that Elyos and Asmodians live on separate servers. Launch server lists have not been published.
Steam pre-release FAQ and pre-download for the scale test
NC's Steam FAQ confirms eight supported languages, servers in North America, South America, Europe and Japan, and that no knowledge of the original AION is needed. The Launch Scale Test used a separate Steam Playtest app (4972320) that had to be pre-downloaded from September 16.
Korea · anti-macro cancel delays, Ranger goes elemental, Sorcerer Fire Mark at 100%
NC lengthened cancel windows on Templar and Assassin combos to blunt mouse macros while raising their PvE damage 10-20%. Every Ranger attack now carries wind, earth or fire damage, Sorcerer's Fire Mark procs on every fire hit, and the Abyss 12-set PvE bonus rose to 45-55%. A 40-level 'Abyssal Invitation' Daeva Pass runs to October 6.
NC added Apple Pay in 56 countries and territories (not Japan, the Netherlands or Belgium) and Cash App Pay in the United States. The notice does not say whether this covers Steam purchases or only PURPLE.
The second pre-launch showcase ran on twitch.tv/aion2official at 10 AM PDT / 7 PM CEST, covering Elyos versus Asmodian fights in the Abyss, Rifts and the Arena. The 74-minute VOD is archived on the channel.
Korea · Snowfield of Sorrow sanctuary, Seal slot and Abyss set rework
A ten-player sanctuary with Easy, Normal and Hard modes ends at Deltras; Hard feeds a server-wide Hall of Fame for the first three kills, and the first clearing force earns a title and a Golden Void pet. A new Seal equipment slot arrived alongside True Genesis and Nemesis Dragon Lord crafts, and Abyss set bonuses now scale by tier.
Gamescom Q&A: global starts on a modified Season 1, about a year behind Korea
Game director Namjoon Kim and publishing producer Merv Lee Kwai told Wccftech the global build is Korea's launch season with a year of quality-of-life fixes, with later seasons arriving roughly quarterly. A console version is in development but cross-play is unlikely, there is no global mobile version, DLSS 4.5 ships at launch and DLSS 5 is in progress with NVIDIA.
Korea · Spacetime Rift Domination, a 60-200 a side stronghold siege
The new faction battle runs Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 20:00 and 23:00 KST, lasting 25 minutes after a five-minute setup; attackers win by holding three of five strongholds. Entry needs level 50, item level 4,500 and 500k Combat Power. Watcher Kaira now spawns every four hours instead of on a 20% roll.
No Oceania server at launch; five server regions confirmed
NC told Massively OP the global service launches with NA West, NA East, South America, Central Europe and Japan, and pointed Oceania players to the English-supporting Taiwan service instead. No data-centre cities have been published, so latency figures are guesswork.
Launch Scale Test announced: open to everyone, level 37 cap
NC scheduled two six-hour sessions, September 17 (6 AM to 12 PM PDT) and September 18 (12 PM to 6 PM PDT), with no keys or sign-ups. Shops, Market, trading, Founder's items and the wardrobe were switched off, and all progress was wiped afterwards.
Korea · Templar and Chanter reworked, party buffs cut, second transfer window
Templar's Judgment now triggers off shield skills and Punishment became a 20 m projectile; Chanter's Dark Crush keys off ranged skills. Group synergy buffs from Gladiator, Templar and Chanter were roughly halved. A paid server-transfer window ran August 26 to September 1 at 1,000 Quna per account plus 200 per character.
Gamescom: global launch date is Monday, October 5, 2026
At Opening Night Live NC fixed the free-to-play launch for October 5 on Steam and PURPLE across North America, South America, Europe and Japan. The road there: a free Launch Scale Test on September 17-18 and five days of Founder's Early Access from September 30.
Special Quai Membership: $15 for 30 days, now included in every Founder's Pack
NC detailed the global membership: remote storage, Wind Breeze merchants, Market and World Market access, the Quna Exchange shop, a higher Odyle Energy cap and doubled cube picks in Expedition, Transcendence and Sanctuary runs. Benefits apply per server, and a 30-day membership was added retroactively to all Founder's Packs. Personal trading was later struck from the benefit list.
Q2 earnings: AION 2 in Korea stabilises, global timing weighed against GTA6
NC reported Q2 2026 revenue of KRW 770.5 billion. Co-CEO Park Byung-moo said AION 2's Korean and Taiwanese servers saw higher peak concurrency and revenue in July and August than in June, with monthly users slowly rising. He also said the global schedule was being adjusted with GTA6's November release in mind.
NC and long-time Aion partner Shengqu Games announced a China publishing deal for AION 2 (永恒之塔2) plus a mobile spin-off, one day before ChinaJoy. NC cited 1.5 million average daily users and over KRW 100 billion in revenue within 46 days of the Korean launch. The definitive contract was still unsigned at NC's August 11 earnings call.
Three tiers went on sale on Steam and PURPLE. All include five days of Early Access (Sept 30 to Oct 4), a supply chest and the Vanguard of Atreia title; Deluxe adds an armour and weapon skin, Ultimate adds a second skin set, the Black Dragon pet and Blazing Sun wings. One pack per account, and the pack is locked to the platform where you bought it.
First purchase may require a one-time card verification
Payments run through Xsolla, and first-time buyers with Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or JCB cards may be sent to their bank's 3D Secure page or asked to confirm a small verification amount. You get three attempts within three hours before the fraud system cancels the payment.
Founder's Pack owners start on dedicated Early Access servers; new Launch servers open for everyone on October 5, and EA servers stay joinable if capacity allows. Dungeon matching is region-wide from day one, Abyss matching stays within EA servers until launch, and a per-server Market opens immediately while a cross-server Market comes later. Server transfers are promised but undated.
Business model published: free-to-play, $15 membership gates the Market
NC's 'Team Update' notice laid out the global monetisation: free-to-play with a cosmetics-and-consumables shop, a per-character Daeva Pass with free and premium tracks, and an optional membership. Membership is required to use the player Market and the Kina-to-Quna Exchange. NC says shop items do not affect gear progression; players on Reddit remain sceptical.
Korea · Chapter 1 'Land of Sand and Frost' adds the Brawler and level 50
The largest Korean update so far raised the cap to 50, expanded Stigma slots from 20 to 25, grew dungeon parties to five and battlegrounds to 10v10, and opened Eltnen (Elyos) and Morheim (Asmodian). The ninth class, the gauntlet-wielding Brawler, builds rage into a Rampage state. None of this is in the global launch build.
Pre-registration rewards: Pagati pet plus one pet of your choice
Signing up for the official newsletter (18+) earns the Pagati companion pet and a pick of one more pet from four options, redeemable at launch. No purchase is required. NC said further reward tiers would be announced through the official site.
Summer Game Fest: global launch window set for September 2026
At Summer Game Fest NC premiered the AION 2 Launch Reveal Trailer and narrowed the global release to September 2026, free-to-play on PC. Newsletter pre-registration opened on aion2.plaync.com the same weekend. The exact day was left open and later moved to October.
NC confirms AION 2 launches globally in 2026 on Steam and PURPLE
NC opened the AION 2 Steam page for wishlisting and confirmed a 2026 PC launch on both Steam and its own PURPLE launcher. Servers were announced for North America, South America, Europe and Japan, with eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Japanese and Korean.
Korea · KRW 100 billion in 46 days, Season 2 from January 21
NC's newsroom reported AION 2 passed KRW 100 billion in revenue within 46 days of its November 19, 2025 launch in Korea and Taiwan, with over a million characters buying memberships. Season 2 started January 21 with new expeditions, raids, ascension trials, class-based rankings and Middle Reshanta PvP.
Notes are our own summaries, checked on 25 Sep 2026. Dates are when the news happened or was announced. Notes marked Korea describe the Korean live game, which is ahead of the global build; NC has said Korean content reaches the global servers on a lagging schedule. Items from outlets (Massively OP, Wccftech, Mein-MMO, Inven) are those outlets' reporting, not NC's.
Coming soon · Windows
AION Companion: your Daeva finally has something to say.
This hub is made by the team building AION Companion, an AI companion for AION 2 that reads your HUD from the screen and the game's own event log on your PC, and talks to you out loud. It is not released yet.
