AION 2 Goes Global and Tops Steam's Sales Chart on Day One
A rocky Korean launch, an emergency apology, then 171,530 players on Steam. How NC's winged sequel finally reached the West, what it costs, and what the first weeks tell us.
Fifteen hours. That is how long AION 2 had been live in Korea, in November 2025, before NC went on an emergency broadcast to apologise for its monetisation. Ten months later, the same game launched worldwide and went straight to the top of Steam's global sales chart. Few MMO launches have swung so far, so fast.
AION 2's global version opened with paid advanced access on September 30, 2026 for Founder's Pack buyers, followed by the free-to-play launch on October 5. It runs on NC's own PURPLE platform and on Steam, with servers in four regions: North America, South America, Europe and Asia, where the Asian launch centres on Japan.
The numbers so far
- 171,530 concurrent players on Steam at its first-day peak, according to SteamDB data reported by 80 Level, with the 24-hour peak still above 137,000 days later.
- No. 1 on Steam's global top-sellers chart, which ranks by revenue, on the first day of early access, and No. 1 in 12 countries including the US, France and Germany, according to NC.
- More than 1.3 million Steam wishlists before launch.
- Early Steam reviews rated "Mostly Positive", about 76% of more than 4,300 reviews at the time.
Founder's Packs in the US cost $24.99, $49.99 and $99.99. NC has not published global sales or revenue totals, so the figures above are the best public signal.
How the Korean launch went wrong, and then right
AION 2 launched in Korea and Taiwan on November 19, 2025, on PC and mobile. Before launch, NC had promised that power would not be for sale. Players quickly found power-granting items in the store anyway, and trading and the auction house were locked behind a paid membership.
About 15 hours after launch, NC held an emergency broadcast. Producer Kim Nam-joon said the team had been "complacent and unthoughtful," and the items were pulled from the store with that day's update. NC's share price fell by more than 15% in a single day.
Then the game recovered. According to industry figures reported by Asia Economy, AION 2 made about 25 billion won across PC and mobile in its first week, passed 1.5 million daily active users, and saw 2,527,698 characters created. About 275,867 accounts bought a monthly membership.
What global players get
The global version brings the Korean fixes with it. NC says monetisation centres on convenience memberships, passes and cosmetics such as outfits, weapon skins, pets and wings. On Steam, the game supports eight languages, including Korean and Japanese voice acting, and offers eight classes, PvE dungeons, faction PvP in the Abyss and full flight.
What to watch
The first month of a free-to-play MMO is always the honeymoon. The real tests are retention after the first raid tier, whether NC keeps global content in step with Korea, and whether the cosmetics-first model holds as the game ages. NC's broader shift is just as interesting: it now runs AION 2 and Throne and Liberty itself worldwide (Throne and Liberty's handover).
WGC's take: AION 2 is proof that a fast, sincere fix can rescue a launch. Its global debut was a strong start for a Korean MMO in the West. If you liked the original's flight and faction wars, this is the most modern version of that fantasy you can play today, for free.