NC's own announcements summarised, our articles, and short dated notes on what changed since the global launch on 5 October, including what Korea has that the global game does not. 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
Card images: NC, official AION 2 Halloween key art via Steam; NC, official AION 2 screenshot via Steam.
Official announcements
What NC posted on Steam.
Each entry is our one-paragraph summary of NC's post; the link opens the original. Feed saved when this page was built, refreshed every two hours since (last: 2026-11-09 05:32 UTC).
Korea · Korea's anniversary stream: level cap 55 and island housing arrive on November 11
At the Korean first-anniversary showcase, NC said the November 11 update raises the level cap from 50 to 55 and adds housing: a personal island estate bought once for 1,000,000 Kinah, with 286 decorations and 3 terrain options at launch. Up to 40 players can be invited, and furniture carries no combat stats. Daevanion gets a new board with 128 extra points. This is the Korean service; the global game is still capped at 45.
Korea · Korea: every Expedition gets a solo mode, and tiers 1 to 5 are merged into one dungeon each
Inven's summary of the Korean stream says all Expeditions will support solo entry: one player scales the dungeon for one, two or more scale it for a five-player party. Tier 1 to 5 Expeditions are cut to one dungeon per tier and Hard difficulty is removed there. Fanatic Urugugu Canyon is the new Expedition and Eracus Ruins the new Transcendence dungeon, with Nightmare Floor V landing the same day.
Korea · Korea's winter roadmap: free transfer on November 18, Rudra Challenge on December 2, Part 2 on December 23
After the November 11 launch, the Korean service gets a once-per-account free server transfer on November 18, together with a Trust system that governs Brokerage and Exchange limits. The Rudra Challenge follows on December 2, a second part of the Boundary of Light and Veil update on December 23, and the Ascension Fortress Erek raid against Dragon Lord Ishtar on January 20. These dates are for Korea; no global schedule was given.
Hotfix: Hard difficulty was showing up for Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den by mistake
NC pushed a small hotfix on November 4 after the Hard difficulty option appeared by accident on the Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den Expeditions. To get it, close the game, let the Steam or PURPLE launcher update, and start again.
Another ban wave: 2,423 accounts restricted on November 4, plus a note on security locks
NC says it restricted 2,423 accounts at 00:00 PST on November 4 for botting, gold farming, real-money trading and other economy abuse, and it again warned that buying Kinah from third parties can end in suspension or termination. The notice also explains that a few accounts were temporarily locked as a precaution after access from a risky device or connection, which NC says is not a penalty. Anyone who thinks they were hit by mistake is told to file a ticket with Customer Support.
Patch notes: Abyssal Forge: Ludra is live, with Chaotic Outer Reshanta and two new bracelets
The November 4 update adds the Abyssal Forge: Ludra dungeon in Normal (item level 2,800) and Hard (3,000), each with a one-hour limit; Hard clears are ranked into a regional Hall of Fame. Two bracelets arrive too: the Abyssal Bracelet can be amplified to level 3 and Ludra's Bracelet to level 5, and both difficulties give a guaranteed Gear Change Voucher choice. Chaotic Outer Reshanta is a new PvP zone from level 45 where all stats, skill levels and Stigma levels are standardised, with 3 hours of base time per week, extendable with Outer Entry Stones, and Abyss Points from it cut by 50%.
Exploration Expeditions pay more, and True Dragon and Star Dragon gear get 100% success recipes
Exploration rewards for Draupnir, Vakron Sky Island and Ferocious Horn Den are raised to match Normal difficulty, with more Kina and upgrade materials and a new Amplify Stone Fragment, though these drops are Bound. Kina from Exploration runs now tapers after 40 runs, from 80% down to 20% beyond 70. New recipes craft True Dragon and Star Dragon gear with guaranteed success, but they cannot trigger COMBO and the gear is Bound. The old recipes stay as they were.
Ludra Hunt: titles for the first 20 Hard-mode parties in each region, and for everyone who clears it
From the November 4 maintenance until the November 24 maintenance, NC is handing out titles for killing Ludra. The first party to clear Hard in a region earns The First to Slay Ludra, parties 2 to 5 get Ludra's Conqueror, and parties 6 to 20 get Ludra's Vanquisher. Everyone else who beats Ludra, Normal or Hard, gets Ludra's Nemesis, and the titles are mailed by December 2 at 23:59 PST.
Weekly maintenance on November 4: game servers down for three hours from 07:30 CET
NC has announced the scheduled game server maintenance for the global service, starting November 3 at 22:30 PST (November 4 at 07:30 CET) and lasting three hours. Game login is unavailable during that time and everyone is disconnected when it begins. The notice only says that details of the update will be shared later, and that the schedule can change, with any changes added to the same post.
Beauty of Atreia winners are out: five picks each for world, character and pet screenshots
NC has posted the winners of the weekly Beauty of Atreia screenshot contest, with five chosen submissions each for the world, character and pet weeks, from EU, NA East and South America servers. A community vote between those picks is still to come: the notice will be updated on November 10 with the favourites, and voting happens on the official Discord. Rewards go out by in-game mail no later than November 13 at 23:59 PDT, and the contest was open to Europe, NA East, NA West and South America only.
Daeva Makeover winners announced after more than 1,400 character-creation entries
NC picked one winner each in the Ugly, Cute, Attractive and Unique categories of its first community event, which drew over 1,400 submissions. Category winners get 6,000 Quna, and everyone who took part gets 2 Customization Vouchers (Bound). Rewards are mailed in game no later than November 6 at 23:59 PDT, and the event was limited to Europe, NA East, NA West and South America.
North America servers get a 2.5 hour maintenance for the clock change on November 1
NC has scheduled a temporary maintenance for each North American server group to adjust for the daylight saving change. The NAE group goes down on October 31 at 22:30 PDT (November 1, 06:30 CET) and the NAW group on November 1 at 01:30 PDT (09:30 CET), each for 2 hours 30 minutes. Game login is unavailable and players are disconnected when it starts; NC says the schedule can change and any changes will be added to the notice.
Latest ban wave: 4,651 accounts restricted on October 28
NC posted another Account Restrictions notice, this one for October 28 at 20:00 PDT (October 29, 04:00 CET), covering 4,651 accounts. The reasons given are botting, gold farming, real-money trading and abnormal trading that disrupts the economy. NC repeats that restrictions only follow a review, that long grinding sessions are not penalised, and that a few accounts were temporarily security-locked as a precaution rather than as a punishment. Anyone who thinks they were hit by mistake can open a Customer Support ticket.
Halloween Twitch Drops: Resurrection Spiritstones, vouchers and a Chubby Panda helm for watching streams
Twitch Drops run from October 28 at 10:00 PDT to November 3 at 23:59 PST on all participating AION 2 channels. Watching for 1 hour gives 15 Resurrection Spiritstones (Bound), 2 hours an Appearance Change Voucher, 4 hours 3 Customization Vouchers, 6 hours 4 Odyle Energy, and 8 hours the Chubby Panda helm. Rewards must be claimed from your Twitch inventory before November 17 at 23:59 PST.
Expedition bosses get weaker, and Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island gain a Hard mode
This week's patch cuts boss attack by 15% in Normal Expedition and Transcendence Stage 1, and cuts boss attack and damage boost by 10% each in Hard Expedition and Transcendence Stages 2 to 4. Transcendence Stages 1 and 2 also lose 6.5% boss HP so fewer fights run into the Frenzy timer. Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island get a Hard mode: item level 2700 to enter, a 4 minute Frenzy timer and 3 revives per player. It drops Philosopher's Stone: Revelation, guaranteed Ariel Fragments, Expedition Hero Artwork, more Kina than Normal, and every Unique crafting material. Hard achievements award Unique skins.
Base HP goes up for every class at level 45, and Assassin's Illusive Clone drops to a 60 second cooldown
Gladiator and Templar go from 4,702 to 6,202 base HP at level 45. Assassin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Spiritmaster, Chanter and Cleric go from 4,702 to 5,702. NC says this and the boss attack cuts are meant to help melee classes survive head-on boss hits. Assassin also gets a bigger HP effect from Heightened Sixth Sense (1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000 at levels 5 / 10 / 20), and Illusive Clone's base cooldown falls from 90 to 60 seconds.
New Daily Dungeon, higher Amplify caps on Crafted gear, and shop changes after the transfer period
Odylium Repository is a new Daily Dungeon that pays Soul Crystals (Bound) by clear points and shares its entry count with Daeva Bio-Research Base. Crafted gear Amplify caps rise (True and Star Dragon from 1 to 3, White and Dark Dragon from 3 to 5), and Expedition gear can now be transferred down into Crafted gear one tier lower. With transfers over, the shop's Wind Breeze Merchants Special items move to Substance Morph. Instant Clear Ticket: Nightmare is added (14 per server a week, 30,000 Kina), the Daily Dungeon ticket is also capped at 14 per server a week, and Lower Abyss Rift Stone sales end. Weekly Season Missions now give Lower Abyss Rift Stones in place of Abyss Points for Land Grabs.
Gathering gets a daily server cap and a level 45 minimum, deletion waits 7 days, idle kick drops to 30 minutes
Gathering is limited to 1,000 times per server per day (resets 12:00 AM PDT / 8:00 AM CET, and NC says the number may change), and the minimum level to gather rises from 10 to 45. Character deletion now waits 7 days instead of 1 to stop repeated create-and-delete abuse, and idle players are returned to the lobby after 30 minutes instead of 3 hours. Hidden Cubes spawn more often, Abyss entry limits go up, and the Lower Abyss Dimensional Core has more HP but weakens with a Dissipation of Power debuff once an Artifact Battle passes 10 minutes. Fixes include invisible players in PvP and Season Missions that would not progress after the boss kill.
Atreia's Call: a 28 day attendance event runs until the December 2 maintenance
The attendance event starts after the October 28 maintenance and ends before the December 2 maintenance. Check In-game Menu > Attendance; it resets daily at 12:00 AM PDT / 8:00 AM CET. Rewards include Resurrection Spiritstones, Roasted Fogus, Soul Codex: Reset, Life Crystals, Battle Enhance Scrolls, 2,000 Soul Crystals on days 6, 13, 20 and 27, Odyle Energy on days 7, 14, 21 and 28, Content Usage Ticket Selection Chests and Unknown Fissure Challenge Tickets.
Daeva Pass 'Prelude to Flight' and new cosmetics: Vulpine Sunshower, Maid sets, pets and wings
The new Daeva Pass has 50 levels with a free track and a 1,000 Quna Premium track (adds 20 Battle Enhance Scrolls); it runs until December 2 and EXP is capped at 15,000 per character a week. The shop adds the Vulpine Sunshower and No-Nonsense Maid armor skin sets at $29.99, Secret Teatime weapon skins at $11.99 per class, the Azure Flame Kumiho and Glossy Pink Puppy pets and Maid Ribbon Wings at $19.99, and a run of 300 Quna helm and accessory skins. Sales run until the November 10 maintenance. NC also posted a Daeva Lookbook for the new looks.
Server matchmaking is live: the Abyss and Rift pairings are published for every region
NC listed which server each one faces in the Abyss and in Spacetime Rifts, for Europe, NA East, NA West, South America and Asia. Pairings will be updated periodically to keep combat balanced, so the same faction can be matched together (for example Asmodian against Asmodian). In Europe, Israphel (Asmodian) meets Siel (Elyos) in the Abyss; the Rift lists pair each Elyos server with an Asmodian one.
Server transfers resume after a hold: Europe first, and characters now need level 45
NC had put server transfers on hold while it investigated an unspecified issue, then updated the same notice to say they are back. Europe goes first (03:00 PDT / 12:00 CET), and NA East, NA West and South America follow with their next open transfer period as usual. The notice also states that the level requirement to transfer is now 45.
Daily reset on October 25: some players did not get their Shugo keys and Nightmare tickets
NC acknowledged that after the morning (CET) daily reset on October 25, some players did not receive their Shugo keys and Nightmare tickets. The team said it was investigating and would post again once there is an update. No fix or compensation had been announced in the notice at the time of writing.
Compensation sent after the short EU maintenance: Life Crystals, Spiritstones, scrolls and Odyle Energy
Once the clock-change maintenance was done, NC added a compensation list to its notice. The mail holds 5 Life Crystals (Bound), 3 Resurrection Spiritstones (Bound), 5 Battle Enhance Scrolls (Bound), 1 Content Usage Ticket Selection Chest (Bound) and 1 Odyle Energy (Bound). The mail expires 7 days after it arrives.
Ludra returns on November 4 with new mechanics: Normal needs item level 2,800, Hard 3,000
NC says Ludra re-enters Atreia on November 4 with new mechanics. Normal mode and Hard mode are open right away to players who have reached item level 2,800 and 3,000 respectively. The announcement also lists login rewards, Twitch Drops, in-game events and community events around the release.
Ludra events: a 14-day check-in from November 4 and 2x Odyle Energy in the mail from October 28
From October 28 (after maintenance) to November 10, logging in once a day delivers 2 Odyle Energy to your in-game mail, one delivery per character per day, and the mail expires after 7 days. The Ludra Conquest Check-In runs from November 4 to November 17 (PST) with 7 rewards over 14 days, so up to 7 days can be missed. Rewards include 500,000 and 1,000,000 Bound Kina, Abyss Points, Soul Crystals and a Lush Leaf Tiara helm on day 7.
Another ban wave: 12,586 accounts restricted on October 23
NC posted a new Account Restrictions notice for October 23 (17:00 PDT) / October 24 (02:00 CEST), covering 12,586 accounts tied to botting, gold farming, real-money trading and economy abuse. As in earlier notices, NC says restrictions only follow a review, that normal play including long grinding sessions is not affected, and that a few accounts were temporarily security-locked as a precaution, which is not a penalty. Players who think they were hit by mistake can file a ticket with Customer Support.
Short EU maintenance on October 25 to adjust for the switch from CEST to CET
NC announced a temporary maintenance on October 24 at 17:30 PDT / October 25 at 02:30 CEST, lasting 2 hours 30 minutes, with game login unavailable and all players disconnected when it starts. The only listed change is an adjustment for the European clock change from Central European Summer Time to Central European Time. NC says the schedule can change and any update will be added to the notice.
Weekly patch adds Hard mode to Krao Cave and Draupnir: item level 2600, 4-minute Frenzy timer, 3 revives
The October 20 (PDT) / October 21 (CEST) patch adds a Hard difficulty to the Krao Cave and Draupnir expeditions. Entry needs item level 2600, boss Frenzy timers drop to 4 minutes and each player gets 3 revives. Rewards include a chance at Philosopher's Stone: Revelation (Bound), which can also be picked as a guaranteed reward, plus Ariel Fragments and more Kinah than Normal. In Substance Morph, 100 Ariel Fragments turn into a Daevanion Crystal: Ariel (Bound) up to 30 times per character, and 1 fragment turns into 5 Enhance Stones with no limit.
The same patch raises Abyss boss HP and the player cap, and eases Market limits on gathered materials
NC raised the maximum number of players allowed in the Abyss, increased the HP of the Lower Abyss Dimensional Core and of every boss that spawns in the Abyss, and slightly enlarged the hitboxes of the bosses Kaira and Argo. The system that stopped some players from listing gathered materials on the Market, based on their play history, was adjusted: some previously restricted players can now trade normally while others stay restricted. Class fixes cover two Sorcerer damage bugs (Cold Storm and Fire Wall) and a Chanter Spinning Strike effect that was not displaying.
Rise to the Challenge: Resurrection Spiritstones (Season 1) for 25,000 and 50,000 Kinah until December 15
From the October 20 (PDT) / 21 (CEST) maintenance until the maintenance of December 15 (PST) / 16 (CET), the Wind Breeze Merchants in the Shop sell Resurrection Spiritstones (Season 1) for Kinah in two steps: 25,000 Kinah, then 50,000 Kinah, each for 30 stones with a purchase limit per server per week. The second step only opens once the first limit is reached. When you resurrect, the time-limited stones are used before any permanent Resurrection Spiritstones (Bound) already in your inventory, and everything from the event is non-tradable.
Three more ban waves: 33,639 accounts restricted between October 15 and 20
NC posted three further Account Restrictions notices: 7,933 accounts on October 15 (PDT), 10,326 on October 16 and 15,380 on October 20, all for botting, gold farming, real-money trading or economy abuse, and only after review. With the 24,418 reported on October 14, that is 58,057 accounts in about a week. NC says normal play, including long grinding sessions, is not affected, and that a small number of accounts were also temporarily security-locked after suspicious access, which it stresses is not a penalty.
Steam payment problems from October 6 to 12 resolved: missing items delivered, purchase limits restored
NC says some Steam payments made between October 6 and October 12 failed to deliver the purchased items, while in other cases the purchase limit was used up even though the payment never completed. All affected payments were fixed on October 14 at 10:00: the missing items were delivered and the purchase limits restored to their original values. NC apologised for the delay.
Halloween event: 14 days of Trick or Treat coins, ten weekly missions and a Coin Merchant, until November 3
The first seasonal event on the global servers runs from the October 13 (PDT) / October 14 (CEST) maintenance until the maintenance of November 3 (PST) / November 4 (CET). A 14-day Trick or Treat attendance board pays 35 Halloween Pumpkin Coins a day and 100 on days 7 and 14, 620 in all; ten weekly missions under Season Mission > Event pay 20 to 30 coins each (230 a week); and a Coin Merchant in Verteron (Elyos) and Altgard (Asmodian) sells, among other things, a Special Halloween Chest for 250 coins holding the Spooky Scary Skeleton breastplate skin and 10,000 Pet Soul Crystals. Candy Key Fragments from Expedition and Transcendence dungeons morph into Red, Yellow and Blue Candy Keys (60 fragments each, one of each colour per week) that open the candies placed in the towns.
Weekly patch: Odyle Energy cap rises to 20 a week per character, Sorcerer elevation bugs fixed, invert-Y and HP-bar options added
During the server-transfer period the 16-per-server weekly cap on bound Odyle Energy at the Wind Breeze Merchants is removed and the per-character limit goes from 4 to 20; the Instant Clear Ticket and Soul Crystal move to Substance Morph, and a bound Lower Abyss Rift Stone is sold for two weeks. Sorcerer's Fire Wall and Cold Storm now apply their bonus damage on uneven ground and a stronger player's Embers or Frostbite no longer overwrites yours; Spiritmaster's Ancient Spirit works below level 15. Two weekly Abyss missions now award Abyss Entry Stones, accumulated Abyss entry time is capped at 7 hours, battlefield standard stats are adjusted and large-battle stutter is reduced, and the settings gain an invert-Y option and an HP-bar toggle. Fixes cover dual-GPU graphics settings, crashes at some 4K refresh rates, slow loading with FSR and Shugo Festival reconnects; graphics settings are no longer saved to Steam Cloud, and listing gathering materials on the Market is now restricted by gameplay history.
Halloween skins: three $29.99 sets, eight class-locked Halloween Night weapons, two pets and Spider Wings, until November 24
The Atelier sells the Monarch of Blood (six pieces, with a cloak), Midnight Witch and Midnight Slasher skin sets at $29.99 each with 4,350 Mileage, eight Halloween Night weapon skins at $11.99 that only the matching class can buy, the Pumpkin Carriage and Little Ghost pets at $19.99 (once per server), Spider Wings at $19.99 (once per character, bound) and fifteen helms, facewear and eyewear at 300 Quna, the eleven Decor pieces once per server. Prices are the PURPLE store's, the items cannot be traded, deleted or stored, and the sale ends before the November 24 (PST) / November 25 (CET) maintenance. NC's Daeva Lookbook shows the three sets.
Conquerors of the Abyss: Abyss Rift Stones for 50,000 Kinah, seven a week, until October 27
From the October 13 (PDT) / October 14 (CEST) maintenance until the one on October 27 (PDT) / October 28 (CET), the Wind Breeze Merchants' Special tab sells an event Abyss Rift Stone for 50,000 Kinah (NC's global notices spell it Kina), up to seven per character per week, for characters of level 45 or higher.
Three ban waves in five days: 24,418 accounts restricted for botting, RMT and economy abuse
NC restricted 4,996 accounts on October 10 (23:00 PDT), 10,000 on October 12 (23:00 PDT) and 9,422 on October 14 (00:00 PDT), each time citing gold farming, bot operations, unauthorised programs and real-money trading under its Operation Policy, plus abnormal trading patterns. A smaller number of accounts were temporarily locked as a security precaution, which NC says is not a penalty; appeals go through Customer Support and are reviewed one by one. NC says normal play, long grinding sessions included, is not affected.
Producer's Letter: a zero-queue policy at launch, a free first transfer on October 14, Ludra's return and seasonal events next
In a letter posted as an image on Steam, the AION 2 team thanks players across the Americas, Europe and Asia, says it adopted a zero-queue policy for the official launch after the Early Access queues, confirms server transfers on October 14 with no cost for the first transfer, and promises a steady cadence of content starting with Ludra's return and the first seasonal celebrations. It says the team reads reviews, hub posts, Discord threads and social comments every day, and points to its broadcasts with Stella, Gator and Void.
Four-hour maintenance on October 13 (23:30 PDT) / October 14 (08:30 CEST), after a 30-minute account-registration pause
The weekly maintenance took the game servers offline for four hours from October 13 at 23:30 PDT / October 14 at 08:30 CEST, disconnecting players at the start; the update details followed as the patch notes. Earlier the same day a 30-minute platform maintenance from 14:00 PDT / 23:00 CEST paused account registration.
Server transfer pricing: 0 Quna for the transfer and per character, 1,000 Quna per extra slot on the destination server
The transfer product in Shop > Server Transfer costs 0 Quna, once per account for the whole period, and 0 Quna per character moved; only character slots missing on the destination server cost 1,000 Quna each. Transfers stay within a faction and a region, Early Access servers only to other Early Access servers, and are sold in regional windows (Europe: 12:00 to 16:00 and 18:00 to 22:00 CEST). Characters must be level 10 or higher, in a village, out of a Legion with no pending application and no active Duty mission, with nothing unclaimed on the Market, in Shop Storage or in the mailbox. Only Kinah in the Cube and character storage travels; server storage does not. NC later added that the first EU window ran October 13, 13:00 to 16:00 CEST.
NC lays out server transfer rules: Early Access servers first, launch servers a week later
After the maintenance on October 13 (PDT) / October 14 (CEST), characters from Early Access servers can transfer until the maintenance a week later. Launch-server characters follow from October 20 (PDT) until October 27 (PDT). A transferred character is renamed @TemporaryName and you pick a new name at the next login, friends and block lists are kept, and a transfer is refused when the source or destination server has hit its transfer limit.
Known issues list: Nezekan (NA West) login and latency problems marked resolved
NC updated its Launch Known Issues notice on October 9. The only entries are in the Resolved section: players on the NA West server Nezekan could not get past character selection, and those already logged in saw high latency and delayed actions. NC says it will keep adding to the list as new problems turn up.
NC compensates EU players after a cloud outage took down 22 servers
A cloud service outage hit 22 EU servers (11 Elyos and 11 Asmodian, from Nezekan and Zikel to Tiamat and Atiel) on October 8, and NC later marked it resolved. Affected players get one day of membership and, with pet auto loot active, one day of that, both delivered during the next maintenance. A mailed supply chest holds 20 Life Crystals, 10 Resurrection Spiritstones, 20 Battle Enhance Scrolls, 5 Content Usage Ticket Selection Chests and 5 Odyle Energy.
Two new EU servers, Nathara and Tassin, open at 9:00 PDT
NC opened two new European servers, Nathara (Elyos) and Tassin (Asmodian), at 09:00 PDT / 18:00 CEST on October 8. NC encourages players to join new servers as they open and says server transfers will come later so friends can reunite. Instanced content, dungeons included, is already available across servers.
Short maintenance on Oct 8 (PDT) raises Flight Power of the four quest wings
NC announced a 1.5-hour maintenance starting October 8 at 23:30 PDT (October 9, 08:30 CEST), with all services offline, described as server stabilization. The Flight Power of the four wings you can earn through quests goes up: Daeva's Lesser Wings from 2,000 to 2,500, and the Intermediate, Superior and Ultimate Wings from 500 to 1,000 each.
Steam reviews rise to 73% positive, but server-bound membership draws the most complaints
The Elec reported on October 7 that 73% of 8,834 Steam reviews, counted as of October 6, were positive, which puts AION 2 at Mostly Positive. Players praised the smooth combat, the Unreal Engine 5 visuals and flight-based exploration. The loudest complaint was the Special Quna Membership, which is needed for marketplace access and the premium currency exchange and applies per server instead of per account, so anyone who changes servers has to buy it again.
Weekly patch adds Kinah-priced Resurrection Spiritstones and raises Raw Leather drops
The patch released after the Oct 6 (PDT) / Oct 7 (CEST) maintenance puts a Season 1 Resurrection Spiritstone in the Wind Breeze Merchants for 25,000 Kina each. You can buy 10 per server per week, and NC said the item stays on sale until the scheduled maintenance on December 15 (PST). Raw Leather now drops more often from monsters in Verteron, Altgard and Chaotic Lower Reshanta. Turning Sealed Wings into Enhance Stones through Substance Morph is now limited to 20 per server per week. The fixes cover the Map Pin counter (the limit is 30 pins), a Challenge Season weekly mission that could not be finished, a duplicated Movement Controls key setting and some chat emotes that did not work.
Steam reviews sit at Mixed, but players with 10+ hours rate AION 2 about 81% positive
On October 6, Inven Global reported AION 2's overall Steam rating at about 69% positive, which Steam labels Mixed. Reviews from players with more than 10 hours of playtime were 80.8% positive across 5,234 reviews. Reviews posted in the first three hours after launch were only 39.6% positive. Players praised character customization and aerial combat and complained about cosmetics and battle-pass monetization.
Full launch pushes AION 2 to a 397,905 concurrent-player Steam peak
After the free-to-play launch on October 5, AION 2 reached 397,905 concurrent players on Steam. That is about 226,000 more than the 171,530 peak during Advanced Access, and higher than Throne and Liberty's 2024 Steam record of 336,300. The game also topped Steam's weekly global Top Sellers, New and Trending, and Top Free to Play charts. About 13 hours after the peak, on October 6, the Steam count was around 203,800.
Launch giveaway offers one GeForce RTX 5080, entries close Oct 12
NC opened a Gleam giveaway with one Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 as the prize. Entries run until October 12 at 23:59 PDT (October 13 at 08:59 CEST). The giveaway is open to residents of the US, Canada and Europe, except Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Italy and Portugal. Playing AION 2 on Steam for one hour gives the most entries (10), and following the game's social channels adds more.
Launch patch shortens character deletion to 24 hours and makes some bosses tougher
The 8-hour maintenance from October 4 at 22:00 PDT (October 5, 07:00 CEST) ended Advanced Access and also changed several systems. You now wait 24 hours instead of 168 to delete a character, and you can delete one from level 1. The idle timer before you are sent back to server selection went from 30 minutes to 3 hours. NC said some bosses were too weak for a five-player party and got stronger stats. A Quest Tracker button now teleports players to Verteron or Altgard if they get stuck in the Poeta or Ishalgen Hero Quests.
NC warns that buying Kinah or Quna from third parties can get accounts terminated
The AION 2 team said it is watching for players who buy Kinah or Quna from unauthorized sellers, which breaks the Terms of Service. NC said penalties can go as far as losing access to the game, and that it may make enforcement actions public. The notice called itself the first and only warning.
Known issues: do not open the Duty tab before level 45; chat can freeze
NC's known-issues list says that opening the Duty tab on the map before level 45 delays Duties until the next day after you reach 45. To avoid it, leave the tab closed until then. A 'Please Try Again Later' error can also stop chat messages from sending or showing. Switching characters, going through a loading screen or logging in again clears it. The English title Vanguard of Atreia also showed up as Shaper of Heavens.
Early Access players get five free Battle Enhancement Scrolls
To thank players for their positive feedback, NC mailed every player five Engraved Battle Enhancement Scrolls. The gift could be collected from the in-game inbox until Early Access ended. This is a different gift from the TAKEFLIGHTAION2 coupon and the maintenance compensation.
Seven extra server pairs added in EU and NA during Advanced Access
Because of queues on day one, NC added more Elyos/Asmodian server pairs. In Europe these were Yustiel/Marchutan, Ariel/Azphel, Fregion/Ereshkigal and Meslamtaeda/Beritra on September 30, and Hithanya/Nemon on October 2 at 03:00 PDT. North America got Vaizel/Triniel in the East and Nezekan/Zikel in the West. NC asked players to use the new servers and reminded them that dungeons and other instanced content are cross-server.
Early Access opened 30 minutes late, at 6:30 AM PDT
On launch morning NC moved the opening of Early Access from 6:00 AM PDT (13:00 UTC) to 6:30 AM PDT (13:30 UTC). Client decryption started on time, but the servers stayed in maintenance for the extra half hour while the team made final adjustments.
AION 2 Creator Program opens with three tiers, run through Lurkit
NC opened applications for a creator program covering streamers, YouTubers and short-form creators. The Affiliate tier starts at 500 followers on one platform. Creator needs 2,000 followers and about 20 average live viewers, or 5,000 YouTube views in 30 days. Partner needs 50,000 followers and about 75 average viewers, or 25,000 YouTube views in 30 days. Benefits include event invites, Twitch Drop campaigns and official promotion, and NC said it aims to answer each application within about two weeks.
Pre-download opens two days before Advanced Access
From September 28, Founder's Pack buyers could pre-download AION 2 on Steam and PURPLE. The files stayed encrypted and were decrypted on September 30, which NC said is not a reinstall. How long decryption takes depends on the PC.
Scheduled maintenance on October 6/7 takes game servers offline for 3.5 hours
NC announced routine game server maintenance starting October 6 at 23:30 PDT, which is October 7 at 08:30 CEST. Login is unavailable for about 3 hours 30 minutes, or 5 hours 30 minutes on the Asia servers, and players are disconnected when it begins. Update details are promised at a later time.
Launch day gift: a bound Customization Voucher for everyone
NC noticed how many players wanted to change their character's skin after launch and is sending every player a bound Customization Voucher as thanks. To use it, press ESC and open the Closet.
400,000 active players: 15 bound Resurrection Spiritstones for all
NC says AION 2 passed 300,000 and then 400,000 active users, and marked each milestone with a gift to everyone. The 300,000 mark brought 15 bound Artisan's Roasted Fogus, and the 400,000 mark adds 15 bound Resurrection Spiritstones.
AION 2 launches globally on schedule at 6:00 AM PDT
NC confirmed that the global launch would go ahead on time, at 6:00 AM PDT or 15:00 CEST, and then announced that the game was live. The launch post lists the recent notices worth catching up on, including the new attendance event, skin items, server and matchmaking information, server transfers and the Twitch Drops account-linking guide.
Launch rewards: pre-registration and wishlist gifts for every player
To mark the global launch, NC is giving the Pre-Registration and Steam Wishlist rewards to everyone who creates an account and logs in before maintenance begins on December 1. The gifts arrive by in-game mail from September 30 and include a pet chest (the Pagati pet plus one pet of your choice) and a wishlist chest of bound potions, scrolls and Resurrection Spiritstones. The mail expires on December 8, before the following maintenance.
Founder's Pack cosmetics will work on every character and server
After feedback that the Founder's outfits were a hurdle when playing with friends on other servers or levelling alts, NC committed to making the pack cosmetics usable on all characters across all servers. The 30-day membership and the Campaign Supply and Styling chests stay one-time rewards. NC says the change may take several days and finish after Early Access, with a second post to explain the details; Steam buyers who move up a tier can ask support for a refund of the cheaper pack.
War for Atreia Twitch Drops: three campaigns, the first runs October 2 to 4
NC split the War for Atreia drops into three watch-time campaigns on participating creators' channels: October 2-4, October 7-9 and October 12-14. The first one pays out from 30 minutes of watching (an Appearance Change Voucher) up to 4 hours (10 Mysterious Pet Chests), and later rounds add a pet called Two and a Leather Crop Fit outfit. Start and end times for rounds two and three are still marked TBD.
Twitch Drops: link the account you actually play on
NC's guide says the account linked to Twitch must be the one you are playing AION 2 on: your Steam account if you play through Steam, your NC (Purple) account if you use the Purple launcher. Linking the wrong one can mean the drops never arrive. NC also warns against separately linking an account on the NC website, since that may cut your existing connection and lock you out of your character.
Fixes for Early Access status and in-game purchases, no downtime
NC released a fix for players whose Early Access status was not recognised at login, plus one for problems with in-game purchases. Neither needed downtime; the client applies them on the next restart. The team added that it is still investigating account-linking issues and will share more when it can.
Servers back after maintenance, compensation sent by mail
NC announced that all servers were back online after the October 1 maintenance. Compensation for the downtime was due to arrive through the in-game mail later that day.
NC thanks players with a gift code after a No. 1 Steam debut
NC says AION 2 reached the top of Steam's global top sellers and No. 1 in 13 countries, including the US, Germany, France and Brazil. To celebrate it handed out the code TAKEFLIGHTAION2, worth 4 bound Odyle Energy, 5 bound Resurrection Spiritstones and 10 bound Battle Enhance Scrolls. It starts once servers return from maintenance on October 1 and ends October 13 (NA) or October 14 (EU), one redemption per account.
SteamDB: AION 2 peaks at 171,530 concurrent players on day one
SteamDB's tracker logged a peak of 171,530 players online at once on September 30, the first day of Advanced Access. The figure covers Steam only, not the PURPLE launcher.
Short maintenance targets a bottleneck in Hero Quests
NC took all services offline for about 1.5 hours starting 23:00 PDT on September 30 (08:00 CEST on October 1). The fix addresses a bottleneck that appeared when interacting with objects in certain quests: three Elyos Hero Quests (Northern Tolbas Forest, Eastern Tolbas Forest, Altamia Highland) and four Asmodian ones (Basfelt Ruins, Purifying Forest, Fafnite Deposit, Impetusium Square).
With queues building on popular Advanced Access servers, NC asks new players to pick a recommended server and says transfers within the same faction open on October 14, free during the initial period. Early Access characters will only be able to move between Early Access servers, not to commercial launch servers, and dungeons stay cross-server.
Global Twitch Drops run September 30 to October 16
Watching participating streams earns rewards in two phases: Advanced Access (September 30 to October 4), topping out at a White Headset helm after 8 hours, and Global Launch (October 5 to 16), ending with an Adorable Young Elim shoulder pet after 10 hours. Smaller steps along the way include enhancement stones, Odyle Energy and Resurrection Spiritstones.
Four community launch events announced for NA, LATAM and EU
Daeva Makeover (September 30 to October 19) rewards character-creation screenshots with 6,000 quna per category. Guides for Glory (October 5 to November 2) wants player-made guides, and a Transcendence Dungeon leaderboard in Deus Research Base and Shattered Arkanis pays out stones to the top 50 per server and class. Beauty of Atreia (October 5 to November 9) is a weekly screenshot contest with Dye and Shop Tokens as prizes.
Advanced Access server lineup and schedule announced
NC listed the Advanced Access servers per region: four Elyos and Asmodian pairs in Europe (Siel/Israphel, Nezekan/Zikel, Vaizel/Triniel, Kaisinel/Lumiel), one pair in NA West and Asia, and two each in NA East and Latin America. Each server holds a single faction. Access runs from September 30 at 13:00 UTC to October 5 at 05:00 UTC, followed by a maintenance window until global launch at 13:00 UTC on October 5, with times subject to change.
Elyos and Asmodian servers are paired for Abyss and Rifts
Because each faction lives on its own server, NC pairs every Elyos server with an Asmodian one for a limited time. In cross-faction modes such as the Abyss and Spacetime Rifts you will only meet players from your matched server, so Siel's Elyos, for example, face Israphel's Asmodians.
NC has set the pre-download window for AION 2 Global's Advance Access: Founder's Pack owners can start pulling the client on September 28 at 6:00 AM PDT (13:00 UTC). Getting the files early only unpacks the game onto your drive; it does not let anyone log in before servers actually open for Advance Access on September 30.
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 9 Nov 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.
Out now · 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. Out now for Windows, with a free account.
