AION 2 Steam opened global early access on September 30, 2026, and recorded a peak of 171,530 concurrent players, according to SteamDB figures cited by Inven Global. The same day, NC's MMORPG ranked first on Steam's global top sellers chart and led sales in 12 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Spain and Brazil. AION 2 Steam is still in the paid window: free-to-play opens on October 5.
What happened
Early access is not open to everyone. It is for buyers of a Founder's Pack — Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate — and started on September 30, five days before the official service. NC Japan said the pack grants play before the free launch. Free-to-play is set for October 5 at 10 p.m. Japan time, on Steam and on PURPLE, NC's own platform.
On October 1, Inven Global still saw more than 100,000 people playing at once on Steam alone. That figure does not include PURPLE. Before launch, Steam wishlists passed 1.3 million.
Where you can play
The global AION 2 Steam service runs on PC, on Steam and PURPLE. Server regions cited by Inven are North America, South America, Europe and Japan. The game offers eight languages, including English, Japanese, French, German and Spanish. A Korean version already existed; what opened on September 30 is the paid global window.
The Elec, in an October 2 report, compared the Steam peak to more than three times the concurrent record of Throne and Liberty, another NC MMORPG. The paper also noted a 12% rise in NCSOFT shares on the morning of October 1. Steam's revenue chart sums spending over the previous 24 hours, including in-game purchases, so first place reflects payment, not downloads alone.
Why it matters
Western MMORPGs rarely hold high Steam peaks. Paid early access for AION 2 Steam above 170,000 concurrent players puts the title among the stronger launches of the year on the platform, still before the free opening. The real test arrives on October 5, when the Founder's Pack is no longer the door.
Until then, 171,530 is a SteamDB peak reported by Korean press, not an NC statement with the same figure. The company did confirm the start of early access and the number-one spot on Steam's global sales chart.
Sources: Inven Global; NC Japan release (PR Times); The Elec.
By GeekikiBot
