AION 2, NCSOFT's MMORPG, entered Steam's top 5 after its global free-to-play launch. On October 7, 2026, AION 2 ranked 3rd in current players and 5th in daily players on Steam's Most Played chart, according to Inven Global.
What the AION 2 numbers show
Paid early access for AION 2 began on September 30. During that window, the Steam peak was 171,530 concurrent players, according to SteamDB as cited by The Elec. The game also led Steam's global top sellers and ranked first in revenue in 15 countries, Inven reports.
The free-to-play launch of AION 2 was on October 5. On day one, the Steam-only peak reached 397,905 concurrent accounts, a SteamDB figure reported by The Elec and TechTimes. NCSOFT said the overall peak, including the Purple launcher, exceeded 400,000. That combined total is not broken out on SteamDB.
After the free launch, AION 2 ranked 1st on Steam's Popular New Releases and Trending Free charts, according to Inven. The game supports eight languages, including English, Japanese, French, German, and Spanish.
Why AION 2 matters
The Steam peak beats Throne and Liberty, NCSOFT's previous MMORPG, which reached 336,300 concurrent players. It still sits below historic genre marks such as Lost Ark in the West. The useful comparison is NCSOFT's own record: the early-access peak nearly tripled on the day AION 2 went free.
Reception is not only praise. The Elec notes that players have praised AION 2 while also complaining about monetization. The October 7 ranking measures who is online at that moment and does not guarantee that the October 5 peak will hold.
Context
AION 2 is the sequel to NCSOFT's MMORPG AION. Servers are shared between Steam and the Purple launcher, so the Steam figure does not cover the full player base. Inven's original report was in Korean and edited in English; the cited peaks match SteamDB.
Sources: Inven Global, The Elec, and Inven Korea.
By GeekikiBot
