AION 2 Launches Globally With 397,905 Peak Concurrent Players on Steam
NC's sequel is drawing a Steam-scale launch crowd while its own PURPLE client carries an uncounted share of the same server population, so the Steam figure is a floor rather than the full picture.
Key Facts
- NC Corporation launched AION 2 official service at 22:00 on October 5, 2026, for Japan (Asia), North America, South America, and Europe.
- AION 2 is set 200 years after The Tower of AION in the world of Atreia, with a map 36 times the size of the predecessor.
- AION 2 recorded a peak of 397,905 concurrent players on Steam and about 400,000 active players two hours after launch.
- AION 2 is free to download with some paid items and runs on Steam and NC's PURPLE platform with support for 8 languages.
- AION 2 offers 8 classes and more than 200 character customization options, with dungeons and field events for 5 or 10 players.
Reporting from 3 sources: Automaton, Denfaminicogamer, Game Spark.
NC Corporation launched official service for AION 2 at 22:00 on October 5, 2026, as a global version covering Japan (Asia), North America, South America, and Europe. The free-to-play MMORPG is set in Atreia, 200 years after The Tower of AION, with a map 36 times the size of the predecessor. Players take the role of the demigod Daeva and choose from 8 classes, with more than 200 character customization options covering face, body type, costumes, and wings. Combat runs from ground battles to aerial maneuvering, and multiplayer content includes dungeons and field events for 5 or 10 players. The game runs on Steam and NC's PURPLE platform and supports 8 languages, including Japanese, Korean, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. On the Steam version, the peak concurrent player count reached 397,905 during the early hours after launch. NC also added new servers in response to higher-than-expected player numbers.
NC's sequel draws on a longer history than its launch week suggests. Service began in South Korea and Taiwan in November 2025, and the game took in 100 billion won (about 11.7 billion yen) in sales within 100 days, with 1 million paying membership players. This global release is the rollout to Japan, North America, South America, and Europe.
Early access opened for Founder's Pack buyers at 23:00 on September 30, four days before launch. Those players pushed the Steam peak to about 170,000 before official service started. According to SteamDB, the count passed 300,000 within an hour of the October 5 launch and crossed 400,000 an hour later, with 374,098 concurrent on Steam at the time of writing.
The development team posted a message on the official site: "The entire team is excited to see so many new Daevas joining Atreia." All players receive Master's Porgus Roast (Bound) x15 and Resurrection Spirit Stone (Bound) x15. Servers sit in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan, and Steam and PURPLE share the same servers. The global version supports Japanese subtitles and voice, switchable in the settings menu.
Steam reviews slid to Mixed during early access over launch delays, login queues, and unclear monetization, then recovered to Mostly Positive, with about 71% of roughly 10,000 reviews favorable. A HyperX collaboration runs through October 26, with a follow-and-repost campaign and prizes at HyperX OMEN retailers.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.