AION 2 Global Server Regions Confirmed: Europe, NA, SA and Japan, but No Oceania

AION 2's global launch is getting very close, which means we have reached the traditional MMO stage where choosing the right server suddenly becomes almost as important as choosing a class. NC has now confirmed the regional structure players can expect when the game launches globally on October 5. AION 2 will have servers in North America, South America, Europe and Japan, covering most of the major global markets. One region is conspicuously absent, however: there will be no dedicated Oceania server at launch.

The four confirmed regions are listed in NC's official AION 2 pre-release FAQ on Steam, which names North America, South America, Europe and Japan as the locations supported by the global service. Korea and Taiwan continue to operate separately from this new global version, meaning players should not think of the October release as one enormous worldwide server network. There are several distinct AION 2 ecosystems, and the version launching next month is its own service.

AION 2 Global Has Four Confirmed Server Regions

The confirmed global server regions are:

• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Japan

NC has not yet published a final list of individual world names, and players should be careful with supposed complete server lists currently circulating online. The regional structure is official. Every individual server name, population prediction and unofficial recommendation chart is a different matter until NC publishes the launch list itself.

For most players, the obvious choice will be the geographically closest region. European players will naturally gravitate toward Europe, while North and South American players finally have clearly separated regional options. Japan acts as the global service's main East Asian location.

Latency matters in every MMO, but it could be particularly noticeable in AION 2. The game puts considerably more emphasis on action combat, aerial movement and PvP than traditional tab-target MMORPGs, and the recent AION 2 PvP showcase demonstrated how important positioning and movement can become. A slightly delayed auction-house click is irritating. A delayed reaction while another player is attempting to remove you from the sky with a sword is rather more educational.

There Will Be No Oceania Server at Launch

The awkward part of NC's regional plan concerns Australia, New Zealand and the wider Oceania community. After being asked directly about support for Australian players, NC confirmed to Massively Overpowered that no Oceania server is planned for the global launch.

That leaves players in Australia and New Zealand without a truly local option on the global service. Japan is geographically the closest of the four announced global regions, although real-world latency depends on routing rather than simply measuring the distance between two points on a map.

NC has not announced whether an Oceania server could be added later. The current statement applies specifically to launch, so it would be equally wrong to claim that Oceania is permanently ruled out or that a dedicated server is definitely coming later. For now, there simply isn't one.

NC Points Oceania Players Toward Taiwan

Interestingly, NC's response also highlighted that the Taiwanese version of AION 2 supports English, effectively presenting it as another possible route for players in the Oceania region.

There is an important catch. Taiwan is not another server inside the October global service. It is a separate existing version of AION 2 with its own service, progression and update environment. NC has announced no character transfers between Taiwan and the global version, so choosing Taiwan should not be treated like selecting a different region from a dropdown and changing your mind later.

We also already know that the global version will follow its own modified Season 1 progression rather than simply copying the current Korea and Taiwan builds. That makes the decision about more than latency. Players may also care about where their friends are playing, which content schedule they want to follow and which community they intend to stay with long term.

The Global Version Supports Eight Languages

Server region and language are not the same thing. NC's global FAQ confirms support for English, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Korean. A European player choosing the European region therefore does not need a separate English-language server simply to play in English.

That should help consolidate communities compared with older MMO launches where every language received several separate realms and everybody spent launch night trying to remember whether their guild had chosen Server 12, Server 17 or the one named after an obscure dragon mentioned once in a quest from 2009.

Choose Your Region Before the Real Launch Begins

Players will get an early opportunity to test AION 2's network performance during the Launch Scale Test beginning September 17. Since progression from the test is wiped afterward, it is an ideal time to experiment with regional latency before committing a permanent character to a launch server.

After that, the real servers arrive quickly. Founder's Pack owners enter through Advanced Access on September 30, followed by the full free-to-play global launch on October 5.

For most players, the server decision should be straightforward: choose the nearest region and make sure your friends do the same. For Australia and New Zealand, unfortunately, it is more complicated. Japan is part of the global service, while Taiwan offers English support through a separate version of AION 2.

North America, South America, Europe and Japan are ready for global launch. Oceania will have to make a choice.

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AION 2 Global Will Launch Behind Korea, but With a Year of Quality-of-Life Improvements

AION 2 has been live in Korea long enough for global players to spend months watching dungeons, systems, balance changes and new content arrive from a comfortable distance. That naturally creates one rather important question ahead of the October 5 global launch: are we getting the AION 2 that Korea launched with, or the AION 2 that exists today? The answer, slightly confusingly, is both. NC has confirmed that the global version will begin with a modified version of Season 1 rather than launching with all of Korea's current content, but it will inherit the quality-of-life improvements, progression changes and balance work introduced during the game's first year.

Executive Publishing Producer Merv Lee Kwai explained the approach in a recent AION 2 global launch interview with Wccftech. Korea and Taiwan have accumulated roughly a year's worth of additional content since their original launch, and NC has no intention of simply dumping all of it into the global version on day one. Instead, global players begin with Season 1, heavily revised by everything NC has learned since Season 1 originally existed.

Global AION 2 Starts With a Modified Season 1

That distinction matters. If you have spent the last few months watching Korean AION 2 streams or reading about new systems and updates, not everything you see will necessarily be waiting for you on October 5. The global build will be behind Korea in terms of actual content progression, with later seasons and additions arriving over time rather than immediately.

What global players will not have to repeat is the rougher part of the Korean launch experience. Game Director Namjoon Kim says NC has made three particularly important changes since release. Item progression has been smoothed out so advancement feels more continuous instead of jumping between large disconnected stages. Numerous quality-of-life systems have been added, and the developers have also reduced the emphasis on mandatory daily and weekly chores.

That last point could be particularly important for the Western version. NC says the goal is to avoid daily or weekly content gates that effectively tell players when and how much they are allowed to progress. Players should be able to log in when they want and play for as long as they want, rather than discovering that today's permitted quantity of dungeon has already been consumed and that the MMO would now like them to go outside.

Global Players Benefit From Korea's First Year

In other words, global AION 2 is launching later, but that delay has one obvious advantage. Korea and Taiwan have effectively spent the past year stress-testing systems that the rest of us will encounter in a more mature form.

We have already seen how aggressively NC has adjusted the game since its original launch. Our earlier coverage of AION 2's continuing Korean balance and progression patches showed changes to Daevanion systems, Arcanas, dungeons and class balance, while the game's 100-day anniversary update introduced another large round of system and PvP improvements. Those individual pieces of content may not all appear immediately in exactly the same form, but the lessons learned while developing them feed into the global build.

That is arguably preferable to strict historical authenticity. Very few players are demanding the privilege of experiencing every launch problem in chronological order simply because Korean players had to.

Do Not Expect Global to Catch Korea Immediately

NC is also being refreshingly clear about something MMO publishers occasionally prefer to describe using fog and interpretive dance: global AION 2 will remain behind Korea.

Lee Kwai says the development team already has around a year's worth of content available to draw from, but localization and publishing requirements make simultaneous releases difficult. NC currently expects to follow the Korean seasonal model reasonably closely, where a new season generally arrives around every three months, but the exact global cadence will depend on how players consume the game.

That means three months should be viewed as a rough model, not an immutable schedule carved into a floating Atreian monument. If global players progress through content more quickly or slowly than expected, NC can adjust when the next season arrives.

The studio has not committed to eventually reaching complete content parity with Korea. Lee Kwai said launching updates simultaneously would be challenging because of localization and other publishing work. Global could therefore remain several weeks or months behind, although the exact gap has not yet been decided.

Being Behind Korea Has Advantages and Disadvantages

For players, delayed content is not automatically bad news. Korea effectively becomes a preview server for what may eventually reach the global version. Builds, boss mechanics, progression routes and future systems will inevitably be documented before they arrive here, which is useful if you enjoy planning several months of character development with the seriousness normally associated with municipal infrastructure.

The downside is equally obvious. Surprises become harder to preserve, and global players may occasionally watch Korean servers receive exciting classes, dungeons or systems while knowing they still have months to wait.

There is also the risk of players judging the global release against screenshots and streams from a later Korean season. Someone watching modern Korean AION 2 footage may reasonably expect every activity they see to exist globally on October 5. NC's clarification makes it important to separate the game's current Korean state from the global launch build.

This Is Not the Same AION 2 Korea Launched With

The encouraging part is that Season 1 itself has not been preserved in amber. NC is explicitly modifying it with newer balance, progression and quality-of-life improvements rather than asking global players to replay the game's entire evolutionary history from November 2025 onward.

When NC first confirmed AION 2's global release earlier this year, one of the biggest unanswered questions was how much the Western build would benefit from the additional development time. We now have a much clearer answer.

Global players will be behind Korea in content, but not necessarily behind Korea in game design.

That may ultimately be the best compromise available. We get Season 1 and a sensible progression through AION 2's existing content instead of having twelve months of MMO dumped onto the screen at once, while also avoiding many of the inconveniences that Korean players already helped NC discover.

Sometimes arriving late to the party simply means somebody else has already discovered which chair collapses when you sit on it.

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AION 2 Shows Off the Abyss, Rifts and Arena Ahead of Global Launch

AION without Elyos and Asmodians finding increasingly elaborate reasons to hit each other would feel slightly wrong. NC has now given global players a much closer look at how that old faction rivalry works in AION 2, using a new 74-minute PvP Gameplay Live Showcase to demonstrate the Abyss, Rifts, Arena combat and the broader approach to player-versus-player content ahead of the global launch on October 5.

The official AION 2 PvP showcase aired on September 11 with Community Broadcaster Stella Chung and Associate Product Manager Void playing through several of the game's competitive systems. NC had promoted the broadcast specifically around Elyos versus Asmodians, the Abyss, Rifts and Arena, and the resulting stream made one thing fairly clear: PvP remains an important part of AION 2's identity, but NC is trying to give players more control over when they actually participate in it.

The Abyss Is Still Where the Gloves Come Off

The Abyss remains the most recognizably AION part of the PvP structure. It is the game's dedicated faction-war environment, where Elyos and Asmodian players can encounter each other while pursuing objectives, rewards and territory. Unlike ordinary areas of the world, where the global version will offer a PvP flag that allows players to opt in or out, the Abyss is permanently faction-versus-faction.

NC had already confirmed that distinction during its earlier global release presentation, and it is an important one. AION 2 is not turning the entire leveling experience into an open invitation for somebody ten levels higher to introduce themselves with a stun lock. Instead, players who want the dangerous version of Atreia know exactly where to find it.

The Abyss also appears designed around more than simply collecting kills. Timed objectives and faction activity give the zone a larger strategic structure, with control and participation affecting what a faction can do within the region. That makes it closer to an ongoing PvPvE war zone than a gigantic arena with particularly scenic clouds.

Rifts Bring the Enemy Faction to Your Doorstep

Rifts provide a different flavour of faction PvP. These temporary openings allow players to cross into opposing territory, bringing back one of the original AION's most memorable ideas: sometimes the enemy does not politely remain in the designated enemy zone.

NC has previously described AION 2's dimensional Rifts as timed invasions into enemy faction territory. Instead of the Abyss's permanent war environment, Rifts create shorter windows where Elyos and Asmodians can move into one another's territory and hunt, fight and generally make a normal evening of questing substantially less normal.

That distinction is important because it gives AION 2 several different scales of PvP. The Abyss is the long-term faction battlefield. Rifts create temporary invasions. Arena and Battleground content then provides more controlled competitive fights where the rules are considerably clearer and nobody can claim they were merely gathering flowers.

Arena PvP Is for Smaller, Cleaner Fights

The showcase also highlighted Arena combat, giving players a better look at the smaller-scale end of AION 2's PvP spectrum. NC has previously outlined competitive modes ranging from solo and small-group Arenas through 10v10 Battlegrounds and much larger faction conflicts, so players will not need to join a massive Abyss confrontation every time they want to test a build against another human being.

The global version's 10v10 Battleground is particularly interesting because NC has confirmed that it uses stat normalization. The mode is objective-based rather than simply being a race to generate the largest pile of defeated opponents, and normalization should reduce the extent to which raw gear progression determines the outcome.

That does not magically guarantee perfect balance. This is an MMORPG. Somewhere, somebody will discover a combination of skills that causes several thousand forum posts before breakfast. But it does suggest NC wants at least one structured PvP environment where positioning, class knowledge and teamwork matter more than simply arriving with a considerably larger number attached to your sword.

Flight Makes AION 2 PvP Look Different From Most MMOs

The part that continues to separate AION 2 visually from most modern MMORPGs is movement. Flight is not merely transport here. AION 2 has been built around unrestricted aerial movement and combat, meaning fights can shift vertically in ways that conventional ground-based MMO PvP simply cannot reproduce.

That has obvious implications for ranged classes, pursuit, escape and positioning. A cliff is not necessarily a defensive boundary when everybody involved has wings. Likewise, retreating upward may simply mean the Ranger shooting at you now has a better view.

NC has repeatedly presented this expanded flight system as one of the major differences between AION 2 and its predecessor. The world itself is dramatically larger, and PvP is clearly intended to make use of that vertical freedom rather than treating wings as a decorative mount with feathers.

AION 2 Is Not Forcing Everyone Into PvP

Perhaps the most important message for players who remember the more aggressive parts of older faction-based MMORPGs is that AION 2's global version is not being designed around constant involuntary PvP. Outside the Abyss, players will have access to a PvP toggle, allowing them to decide when they want to participate.

That fits with NC's more recent comments about balancing PvE and PvP for the global audience. AION 2 still has the Elyos-versus-Asmodians identity at its core, but the studio appears less interested in forcing every player into faction warfare simply because they happened to leave town carrying a quest marker.

For people who do want PvP, though, there is a surprisingly broad ladder of options: Arena fights, normalized 10v10 Battlegrounds, temporary Rifts, the permanent faction war of the Abyss and larger Realm-versus-Realm encounters. The structure looks less like a single PvP mode and more like an entire parallel progression path.

The Launch Scale Test Comes Next

Global players will get their next opportunity to experience AION 2 during the free Launch Scale Test beginning September 17. The test is capped at level 37 and NC has not published a complete list showing exactly which PvP activities will be accessible during those sessions, so it would be premature to assume players can immediately reproduce everything shown in the showcase.

After that, the calendar becomes very short indeed. Founder's Pack owners enter Atreia through Advanced Access on September 30, followed by the full AION 2 global launch on October 5.

The PvP showcase does not suddenly answer every balance question, nor does seventy-four minutes of controlled gameplay tell us what a live server full of thousands of inventive MMO players will eventually do to these systems. History suggests they will find something the developers did not expect within approximately seventeen minutes.

But it does make AION 2's direction much clearer. The Abyss is still dangerous. Rifts still bring the faction war home. Arenas provide the smaller fights, and the global version gives players considerably more choice about when to participate.

For an AION sequel, that feels like a sensible compromise between preserving what made the original unusual and accepting that not everybody wants to be murdered while trying to gather crafting materials.

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AION 2 Global Release Date Is October 5, With Early Access Starting September 30

The waiting is almost over. AION 2 will officially launch globally on October 5, 2026, bringing NC's long-awaited MMORPG sequel to Western players after almost a year of watching the Korean version evolve from afar. Players who purchase one of the game's Founder's Packs will not have to wait quite that long, with five days of Advanced Access beginning on September 30.

The date is now confirmed through both the official AION 2 global website and the game's Steam page, finally replacing the broad 2026 release window NC gave us earlier this year. When we first covered AION 2's confirmed global release plans back in February, the important news was simply that the game was coming West. Seven months later, we can finally start counting the remaining days rather than fiscal quarters.

AION 2 Launches Globally on October 5

The full global release arrives on October 5 as a free-to-play PC MMORPG. Players will be able to access AION 2 through Steam and NC's PURPLE platform, with the Steam listing confirming support for online PvP, online co-op and in-game purchases.

NC describes AION 2 as a vastly expanded successor built around aerial exploration and combat. According to the Steam listing, its world is approximately 36 times larger than the original AION, with verticality playing a central role in exploration and battles rather than flight simply being a convenient way to cross the map.

That is a rather substantial step up from the original game's famous wings. In AION 2, apparently, the sky is no longer just somewhere you occasionally go when the flight meter allows it. It is part of the battlefield.

Advanced Access Begins September 30

Players purchasing any of the three Founder's Packs receive five days of Advanced Access beginning September 30. The Standard Founder's Pack is currently listed at $24.99 on Steam, with Deluxe at $49.99 and Ultimate at $99.99. All three include the five-day head start, while the more expensive versions add additional cosmetic items and other bonuses.

The Standard pack also includes a 30-day membership, a Daeva's Campaign Supply Chest and the exclusive Vanguard of Atreia title. Deluxe adds additional skins and weapon cosmetics, while Ultimate adds further character styling items, a Black Dragon pet and Blazing Sun Wings.

None of that is required to play AION 2 once the game launches on October 5. Players who are happy to wait five additional days can simply enter when the free-to-play version opens.

You Can Play AION 2 Before September 30

There is actually one opportunity to get into Atreia even earlier. NC is running the AION 2 Launch Scale Test beginning September 17, giving global players two six-hour sessions to test the game before release. The level cap is 37, several economy systems are disabled and all progression will be wiped when testing ends, but participation is free.

That makes September unusually busy for a game that spent much of this year feeling frustratingly distant. First comes the Launch Scale Test, then Advanced Access, and finally the full October 5 release.

PC Comes First, but Consoles Are Already Planned

October's release is PC-only, but NC is already looking beyond Steam and PURPLE. Game Director Namjoon Kim recently confirmed that an AION 2 console version is already being prepared, although no console platforms or release date have been announced yet.

PC and console cross-play is also far from guaranteed. NC has suggested that differences in platform usage, gameplay and launch timing could make shared play difficult, meaning the future console version may end up with a somewhat separate ecosystem.

For October, however, the message is simple: PC comes first.

From Korean Success to a Global Launch

AION 2 originally launched in South Korea in November 2025 and quickly became one of NC's most important recent PC releases. Since then, the developer has continued expanding progression, dungeons and economic systems, including controversial changes such as the introduction of Bound Kinah. The 2026 AION 2 roadmap also made it clear that NC intends to keep adding content rather than treating launch as the finish line.

For global players, though, all of that has mostly been something happening somewhere else. That changes now.

September 17 brings the test. September 30 brings Advanced Access. October 5 brings the full global launch.

After months of release windows, financial reports, Korean patches and speculation, AION 2 finally has the one thing every MMO eventually needs: a date when everyone else gets to play it.

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AION 2 Console Version Is Already in Development, but Cross-Play May Not Happen

AION 2 is launching globally on PC in just a few weeks, but NC is already looking beyond Steam and PURPLE. Game Director Namjoon Kim has confirmed that a console version of AION 2 is currently being prepared, with console support expected to follow after the global PC release. There is no release date yet, NC has not announced which consoles will receive the game, and anyone hoping to simply bring their PC character across to a future console version may want to keep expectations under control. Cross-play between PC and consoles currently looks unlikely.

The confirmation came during a Gamescom interview with the AION 2 development team, where Kim was asked directly whether NC would consider a console release if there was sufficient player demand. His answer was considerably more concrete than the usual "we are always exploring opportunities" language. According to Kim, NC is already preparing the console launch, although the immediate priority remains getting the global PC version out successfully first.

AION 2 Console Support Will Come After PC

For now, the global launch remains firmly focused on PC. AION 2 will be available through Steam and NC's PURPLE launcher, with Founder's Pack owners getting Advanced Access on September 30 before the full free-to-play release on October 5. Earlier this year, when we covered NC confirming AION 2's global release plans, the big question was simply when Western players would finally get access. The conversation has moved rather quickly since then. We are now discussing what happens after launch.

NC has not confirmed whether the eventual console version means PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S or both, and there is no timetable beyond the statement that console support will follow the global PC release. That means this should not be read as a surprise console launch arriving alongside the PC version in October. It is a separate project that NC is actively preparing for later.

PC and Console Cross-Play Looks Unlikely

The more interesting part of the interview came when Kim was asked whether the future console release would support cross-play with PC. NC has not made a final decision, but the current thinking appears to be probably not. Kim explained that PC and console usage patterns and gameplay differ, while the separate launch timing also complicates running the versions together.

That could have significant consequences depending on how NC eventually structures the console version. AION 2 is an MMO built around persistent progression, group content, PvP and a long-running economy, so splitting the community across separate platform environments is considerably more important than it would be in a conventional single-player game. The existing AION 2 roadmap already shows how aggressively NC plans to expand the game, and a console edition arriving months later could potentially begin from a different content or seasonal position.

For now, however, that part remains speculation. The useful information is simply that cross-play has not been ruled out officially, but NC currently appears to be leaning against it.

Controller Support Is Already Included on PC

There is some good news for players who want a more console-like experience without waiting for the actual console release. Executive Publishing Producer Merv Lee Kwai confirmed that AION 2 supports controllers on PC. That makes plenty of sense for a game built around modern action combat, aerial movement, gliding and a third-person camera rather than the enormous hotbar forests that once caused MMO players to develop additional fingers through sheer necessity.

Controller support also gives NC useful experience before the console edition arrives. UI navigation, targeting, movement and ability layouts all need to function comfortably without a keyboard and mouse, and the PC release effectively gives the studio a head start on solving those problems.

There Are No Plans for a Global Mobile Version

The same interview also clears up another platform question. Despite NC's enormous presence in mobile gaming, the global version of AION 2 is being treated as a PC game, and Lee Kwai said there are currently no plans to bring the global release to mobile.

That distinction matters because AION 2 has occasionally been lumped together with NC's broader multiplatform strategy. For Western players, the roadmap is now much clearer: PC comes first, consoles are being prepared for later, and mobile is not currently part of the global plan.

DLSS 5 Is Also Being Prepared

NC is thinking beyond platforms on the technical side as well. The developers confirmed that they are working with NVIDIA on DLSS 5 support, while NVIDIA has already confirmed that the Western release will support DLSS 4.5 when Advanced Access begins on September 30.

AION 2 runs on Unreal Engine 5 and leans heavily on enormous environments, long draw distances, dense fantasy architecture and the freedom to move through the world vertically. That makes performance technology particularly relevant here. Flying through Atreia is considerably less impressive if the glorious city on the horizon arrives three seconds after you do.

AION 2 Is Starting to Look Like a Much Bigger Global Project

The console confirmation may not affect anyone playing AION 2 this October, but it does tell us something important about NC's ambitions. This is not being treated as a PC launch that will simply be maintained in its existing markets. The company is already planning how AION 2 expands after the global release, both through new platforms and continued technical development.

For PC players, nothing changes in the immediate future. Steam and PURPLE remain the places to play, controller support is already available, and the October launch comes first. For console players, though, there is finally something more substantial than hope.

AION 2 is coming to consoles. We just do not yet know when, where or whether those players will be sharing Atreia with the rest of us.

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AION 2 Launch Scale Test Starts This Week: Dates, Times and Everything You Need to Know

For most of 2026, global AION 2 coverage has involved a familiar MMO ritual: watching another region play the game while patiently studying patch notes, balance changes and increasingly elaborate progression systems from the other side of the window. This week, that finally changes. AION 2's Launch Scale Test begins on September 17, giving global players their first major open opportunity to get into the PC version ahead of Advanced Access on September 30 and the full free-to-play launch in October.

NCSoft is making this one unusually easy to join. According to the official AION 2 Launch Scale Test announcement, the test is available through both Steam and PURPLE and is open to everyone. There are no beta keys to win, no invitation lottery and no mysterious sign-up system where somebody who registered six minutes after you somehow gets access first. If your PC can run AION 2 and the game is available in your region, this is essentially the final public dress rehearsal.

When Does the AION 2 Launch Scale Test Start?

Pre-download begins on September 16 at 15:00 CEST, giving players a full day to install the client before the first session begins.

The Launch Scale Test itself is divided into two six-hour sessions:

• September 17: 15:00 to 21:00 CEST
• September 18: 21:00 to 03:00 CEST on September 19

That gives players a maximum of 12 hours of testing. Progress from the first session carries over into the second, so characters will not reset overnight. Once the Launch Scale Test is finished, however, everything is wiped. Characters, levels, equipment and progression will not carry into Advanced Access or the full launch.

That last part is worth remembering if you are planning to treat the test like the first weekend of a new MMO. This is the time to experiment with classes, test performance, learn the opening areas and discover which keybind you immediately regret. It is probably not the time to become emotionally attached to a level 37 character whose name took longer to create than the character itself.

The Level Cap Is 37

NCSoft has set the maximum level at 37 for the Launch Scale Test, which naturally means that higher-level content will remain inaccessible. Several parts of AION 2's live economy are also deliberately disabled.

The Shop, Quna purchases, passes, memberships and payment functions will not be available. The Marketplace, Quna Exchange and direct player-to-player trading are also disabled, while Founder's Pack items cannot be used during the test. The Closet system is switched off as well, meaning characters will largely be running around in their default appearance.

That makes the Launch Scale Test quite different from the version of AION 2 that has already been operating in Asia. Earlier this year, we followed major economic changes such as AION 2's introduction of Bound Kinah, but much of that machinery is intentionally pushed into the background here. The purpose of this test is primarily to stress the global infrastructure and let players experience the game itself, rather than discover who can become Atreia's most efficient amateur accountant in twelve hours.

Steam Players Need a Separate Playtest Client

There is one practical detail worth knowing before downloading. Steam users will access the Launch Scale Test through a separate AION 2 Playtest application rather than the regular release client.

After the test ends, Steam players will therefore need to uninstall the Playtest version and download the normal AION 2 client if they intend to continue into Advanced Access or the full launch. PURPLE users will not have to perform the same additional download step.

It is hardly a catastrophe, but it is exactly the kind of small technical detail that becomes considerably more annoying when launch day arrives, everybody is trying to log in at once and your friends have already disappeared three zones ahead while you are staring at a progress bar.

AION 2's Global Launch Suddenly Feels Very Close

When we covered NCSoft confirming AION 2's global release plans earlier this year, the Western version still felt relatively distant. The Korean launch had already shown that AION 2 could attract a substantial audience, and the subsequent AION 2 roadmap revealed how quickly NCSoft intended to expand the game, but global players were still largely watching events from the sidelines.

That period is now effectively over. The Launch Scale Test is limited, all progression will eventually disappear and several important systems are disabled, but for players who have spent months wondering how AION 2 actually feels to play, September 17 is the first genuinely important global date.

It is also completely free.

AION 2's global launch is no longer some vague promise hiding somewhere later in 2026. This week, players can finally log in, spread their wings and see whether the sequel has been worth waiting for.

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AION Classic’s April 22 Deadlines Are Coming Fast — What Players Should Finish This Week

 

AION Classic players have a very clear mini-deadline week in front of them. According to the official April 15 maintenance notice, both the current Class Change promotion and Tevamon’s Taste Research end on April 22, 2026, with related item and NPC cleanup also tied to that date. So if you have been meaning to finish something “later,” AION Classic is now politely suggesting that later should probably mean this week.

The two biggest April 22 deadlines are easy to identify

The clearest cutoff points are the class change window and the Teva mushroom event. Gameforge’s official Reorientation Event post says the class change promotion runs from April 8 at 9 AM to April 22 at 8:59 AM CEST. The official Delicious Mushrooms in Teva event post uses the same overall event window: April 8 at 9 AM to April 22 at 8:59 AM CEST.

That means this is not one of those vague “end of month-ish” situations. There is a very real line in the sand here, and it lands on the morning of April 22.

If you still want to change class, this is the week to do it

The official Reorientation Event details say eligible players can buy up to two class changes per account for 2,000 Quna each, as long as the character is level 60 or higher. The same system also supports gear exchange, with the base change covering a weapon, armour, accessories, wings, and an Arcamant, while extra equipment swaps cost 300 Quna per item.

Even more importantly, the April 15 maintenance notice says players can now use the system a third time. So if you were still hesitating, or already changed your class once and immediately started questioning your own judgment, this is the window. We already broke the system down in more detail in our AION Classic Reorientation Event guide, but the short version is simple: after April 22, this specific opportunity is gone.

The Teva event also needs wrapping up

The other obvious deadline is the Teva mushroom event. In the official event post, Gameforge says players level 65+ can take part in the daily quest [Event/Daily] Capture Tevamon’s Shroom in Teva, tame the event creature, and use the resulting materials to create [Event] Grilled Mushroom, which can reward an [Event] Teva Hourglass (1 Hour), Balaurea Chronicle Pages, or a Balaurea Chronicle Cover.

The same official event notice also makes it clear that several event items will be removed at the end: [Event] Mushroom Fragment, [Event] Spice Sauce, and [Event] Grilled Mushroom. So this is not just a “remember to do the quest” kind of deadline. It is also a “do not leave event materials sitting around expecting mercy” deadline.

If you need the practical version of that event rather than the official wall of details, we already covered the bug and workaround angle in our Delicious Mushrooms in Teva workaround article. That piece is still useful if you want the fast version without having to decode every line of the announcement yourself.

The April 22 cleanup matters too

One detail players often underestimate is the cleanup attached to these deadlines. The official April 15 maintenance post specifically notes item deletion for the class change promotion on April 22, and NPC and item deletion for Tevamon’s Taste Research on the same date. That means the deadline is not just about participation. It is also about making sure anything useful tied to these systems actually gets used before the server tidies it away.

What you can safely leave for later

Not everything needs urgent attention this week. The maintenance notice also says the current Arenas cycle and Tower of Illusion run until April 29, while the new Daeva Pass reward cycle continues deeper into May. We covered that broader reset in our April 15 AION Classic reset article. So the urgent part of this week is not “everything in Classic.” It is mainly the class change window and the Tevamon event.

The practical checklist

If you want the simplest version possible, here it is: finish any class change plans before April 22 at 8:59 AM CEST, use or sort any related gear plans before the event cleanup, wrap up your Teva mushroom event progress, and spend or use any event materials you actually care about before they disappear.

AION Classic loves giving players just enough time to feel comfortable and then reminding them that comfort was a mistake. This is one of those weeks.

Sources

• Official AION Classic Maintenance - 15.04
• Official Reorientation Event
• Official Event: Delicious Mushrooms in Teva

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AION 2’s Crackdown Is Still Escalating — and the Latest Ban Wave Was Not Small

 

AION 2’s enforcement story is not slowing down. In the official 87th sanctions notice, NCSoft says that on April 17, 2026, it permanently banned 1,006 accounts and also handed out 7-day suspensions to 2,693 accounts. That alone would already be a sizable enforcement update, but it landed right next to another official notice targeting abnormal play in Abyss and Time Rift content.

The newest sanctions notice is a lot bigger than a routine cleanup

According to the official 87th sanctions post, the permanently banned accounts were punished under policy categories tied to “workshop” activity and the use, creation, or distribution of unofficial programs. The same notice says the 7-day suspensions were issued for policy violations related to unofficial programs, behavior that disrupts gameplay, and attempted real-money trading. NCSoft also repeats that three accumulated sanctions of that type can lead directly to permanent account suspension.

The Abyss and Time Rift enforcement is still running in parallel

What makes this more than just another macro crackdown is the fact that NCSoft also published the official 5th Abyss / Time Rift abnormal behavior notice. That post says that on April 17, 2026, 137 accounts were hit with 7-day sanctions for improper profit-seeking behavior through malicious use or abuse in Abyss / Time Rift content. NCSoft says the response includes resetting Abyss points and ranking points, while also recovering improperly obtained equipment.

In other words, NCSoft is not treating this as one single abuse category. It is still running a broader account-enforcement track at the same time as it keeps separately hammering players for Abyss / Time Rift point-farming behavior. That split is clear from the way the 87th sanctions notice and the 5th Abyss / Time Rift notice are structured.

This did not come out of nowhere

The latest action also looks much bigger when you place it beside the earlier notices from the same month. In the official 86th sanctions notice, NCSoft said that on April 15, 2026, it had already penalized 205 accounts. And before that, we had already covered the earlier 940-account permanent ban wave and the previous Abyss / Spacetime Rift abuse enforcement story. So this is not NCSoft waking up one morning and deciding to suddenly care. It looks much more like a sustained enforcement phase that keeps intensifying.

Why this matters for ordinary players

For normal players, the biggest takeaway is pretty simple: NCSoft is still willing to hit both broad account abuse and specific competitive-content abuse at the same time. That matters because Abyss and Time Rift systems are tied to progression, ranking, and gear value, while the wider sanctions notices show the studio is also still aggressively targeting workshops, unofficial tools, and cash-trade behavior. If you were hoping the crackdown had started to cool off, the latest numbers do not really support that theory.

It also fits the larger pattern we have already seen across recent AION 2 coverage. The game is still in a phase where NCSoft is actively correcting systems, shipping balance and UI changes, and running visible enforcement passes. You can see that in our earlier coverage of the April 15 update breakdown, the April 15 known issues list, and the recent April 22 daily mission limit warning. This crackdown story is just the harsher side of that same live-service rhythm.

The practical takeaway

At this point, the message from NCSoft is not subtle anymore. Broad rule-breaking can get you permanently removed. Abyss / Time Rift abuse can still get your points reset, your ranking wiped, and your gear recovered. And the company is clearly comfortable publishing these notices in rapid succession.

In MMO terms, that usually means one thing: the studio wants players to notice that the cleanup is happening, not just quietly feel it in the background.

Sources

• Official AION 2 87th Sanctions Notice
• Official AION 2 5th Abyss / Time Rift Abnormal Behavior Notice
• Official AION 2 86th Sanctions Notice

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AION Classic’s April 15 Reset Adds a New Daeva Pass — and a Third Class Change

 

AION Classic’s April 15 reset turned out to be a little more useful than a routine maintenance post usually looks on paper. In the official April 15 maintenance notice, Gameforge confirmed that the old Daeva Pass ended on April 15, a new Daeva Pass started the same day, and players in the ongoing class change promo would be able to use the system a third time.

The new Daeva Pass is the biggest fresh reset point

The clearest practical change in the reset is the arrival of a fresh season. Gameforge’s official Daeva Pass: New Season Start post says mission progress runs from April 15 at 9 AM to May 11 at 9 AM CEST, while reward collection remains open until May 13 at 4:59 AM CEST. That means this is not just a maintenance-day shuffle. It is a real progression reset with a new reward track attached.

According to the same official Daeva Pass announcement, the pass includes daily, weekly, and seasonal missions, with rewards such as the [Event] Enchantment Chest (Level 100–110) and Heroic Manastone Chest. Players can also unlock the premium track for 1,320 Quna, which adds items like the [Event] Rare Skill Box and [Motion Card] Skateboard (30 days).

The April 15 reset also quietly kept other systems moving

The maintenance post also confirms that new Arenas and Tower of Illusion now run until April 29, while PvP Ranking continues until June 3. Meanwhile, the ongoing Class Change promotion and Tevamon’s Taste Research event both continue until April 22, with their related item and NPC cleanup also scheduled for that date.

That makes this reset feel more like a proper handoff week than a sleepy server restart. The old Easter pass content drops out, the new Daeva Pass takes over, and several current systems now have much clearer end dates attached.

The real surprise is the third class change

The biggest extra detail, though, is the class change update. In the follow-up Reorientation Event update from Drestam, Gameforge explains that player feedback suggested two class changes were not enough, and that some players also found the earlier communication confusing. Because of that feedback, the team decided to raise the limit.

After the April 15 maintenance, players can now use the Class Change function a third time. Gameforge also makes one thing very clear in the same official follow-up post: the extra change is not free and still costs the normal amount of Quna.

Why that matters

That little extra charge is what makes this more than a maintenance footnote. The class change system was already one of the more practical AION Classic features running this month, and we already covered that in AION Classic’s Reorientation Event class change guide. Now the April 15 reset has made that event a bit more flexible for players who either misclicked, changed their mind, or simply decided that their original plan was not nearly as clever as it looked at the time.

It also sits nicely beside the other active Classic service pieces we have already covered, including the Delicious Mushrooms in Teva workaround article and the earlier AION Classic shop and Flash Auction update. This reset is the cleaner “what changed this week” story that ties several of those threads together.

What players should actually do now

If you are playing AION Classic this week, the smart move is pretty simple: treat April 22, April 29, May 11, and May 13 as your key dates. April 22 matters for Class Change and Tevamon’s Taste Research. April 29 matters for the current Arenas cycle and Tower of Illusion. May 11 is the last day to complete Daeva Pass missions, and May 13 is the final reward collection deadline.

And if you were already on the fence about using the class change system, the third charge means Gameforge has quietly given indecisive players one more shot at pretending the first two attempts were just warm-up rounds.

Sources

• Official AION Classic Maintenance - 15.04
• Official Daeva Pass: New Season Start!
• Official Reorientation Event follow-up from Drestam

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AION 2’s April 15 Update Quietly Changed More Than It First Looked

 

AION 2’s official April 15 update news is one of those patch notes that does not scream for attention at first glance, but ends up touching a surprising number of systems once you actually read it properly. The update adds traversal help in the Abyss, adjusts Treego Festival behavior, changes some material transformation items into bound items, improves UI clarity, fixes a long list of combat and dungeon problems, and even includes compensation for a previous reward issue.

The Abyss got a practical mobility and safety pass

According to the official April 15 update post, NCSoft added wind paths to the Chaos Ereshuran Tower Mid, greatly increased the falling-height threshold there, and fixed an issue where some monsters were appearing in abnormal positions. That is not glamorous headline material, but it is exactly the sort of quality-of-life tuning players tend to notice once they stop falling off things or getting jumped by mobs standing where they clearly should not be standing.

Treego Festival also got cleaned up

The same official patch notes say the Treego Festival was adjusted in two useful ways. First, NCSoft fixed an issue in the Asmodian “Fly High” activity where characters could unexpectedly stand on the outer side of the floating island. Second, in the Mystery Racetrack event, starting positions will now be chosen randomly instead of being tied to entry order. That should make the festival feel a little less janky and a little less exploitable.

Some material transformation items are now bound

One of the more quietly important economy-side changes in the April 15 update news is that the material transformation versions of Superior Soul Stones and Abyss Soul Stones were changed into bound items. That may look like a small line in a big patch, but players who track item value and system friction will probably clock it immediately. It also fits the broader pattern we already saw in our earlier coverage of AION 2’s Bound Kinah changes, where NCSoft was clearly already moving toward tighter control over how some systems and resources behave.

The UI is getting more useful too

NCSoft also used the April 15 patch to improve how usage information is displayed in several systems. The update adds maximum refill-count information for Expedition / Transcendence reward counts, final boss elimination counts, Sanctuary challenge counts, and Dimensional Assault reward keys. That is the kind of UI improvement that will not win any awards for drama, but it is the exact sort of thing that makes daily play less annoying.

There is also a long fix list for boss fights and system bugs

A big chunk of the official update article is devoted to fixes. Several of them target Expedition - Phantom Corridor, including boss attack behavior, summon targeting, drag effects, distance detection, and dodge interactions. Other fixes touch the Sanctuary - Corroded Decontamination Facility, an Abyss relog connection problem, HUD panel bugs when moving through the Abyss or Space-Time Rift, a broken Asmodian achievement, and even dye issues on a specific orb appearance item. In other words, this was not just a patch that moved a few numbers around. It was a fairly broad cleanup pass.

NCSoft is also compensating players for a missed reward issue

Buried near the bottom of the official April 15 update post is one of the more practical notes in the whole patch: NCSoft says it is restoring rewards that were not properly issued after the destruction of the Dimensional Core in the Abyss Mid layer. For characters who took part on April 9, 2026, eligible players are set to receive 2 Platinum Merit Medals, sent directly to the inventory. That is a good reminder that the real value in patch notes is often hiding in the lower half of the page.

Players should also keep an eye on the related known issues post

The update did not arrive in isolation. NCSoft also published an official April 15 known issues update covering a mismatch in displayed combat power within squad information, an Asmodian regional quest that cannot currently be completed, and a UI filtering problem in Expedition, Transcendence, and Sanctuary menus when applying your own race filter. That last issue is currently scheduled to be fixed during the April 22 regular maintenance. So while the patch cleaned up a lot, it also came with a clear little “more repairs still pending” footnote.

Why this update matters

What makes this patch worth covering is not one giant flashy feature. It is the sheer spread of what it touches. The Abyss got traversal help, event systems got fairness tweaks, some transformation items got tightened into bound items, UI clarity improved, bosses got cleaned up, and missed rewards were restored. That makes this update feel like a practical “make the live game behave better” patch rather than just another balance note dump. It also fits the pattern we saw in our previous coverage of AION 2’s April 8 update, the earlier March 26 emergency maintenance compensation notice, and the recent major April crackdown wave: AION 2 is still very much in active live-service correction mode.

The practical takeaway

If you play AION 2 on the Taiwan service, the smart move is to read the official April 15 update notes and the related known issues notice as a pair. The first one tells you what got better. The second tells you what is still slightly on fire. And in MMO terms, that is honestly a pretty useful combination.

Sources

• Official AION 2 April 15 Update News
• Official AION 2 April 15 Known Issues Update

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AION 2 Is Changing Daily Mission Limits on April 22 — and Unfinished Missions Will Be Abandoned

 

AION 2 players on the Taiwan service have a very clear pre-maintenance warning to pay attention to this week. In the official April 15, 2026 notice from NCSoft, the company says that during the regular maintenance on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, it will change the daily execution limit for Log > Missions > Tasks from a per-character basis to a per-server basis.

That may sound like a dry system tweak, but the practical impact is much easier to understand: the same official NCSoft notice also says that any unfinished mission tasks will be automatically abandoned after the April 22 update. NCSoft specifically tells players to finish ongoing missions and claim their rewards before the update.

What exactly is changing

Right now, these daily mission attempts are handled on a character-by-character basis. After the April 22 maintenance, that limit will instead be tracked on a server-wide basis, according to the official maintenance warning. A matching summary on the AION 2 Lounge post covering the change repeats the same key point: the daily mission standard is being shifted from individual characters to the whole server.

In practical terms, that means players who have been using multiple characters on the same server as separate daily mission routes may need to adjust their routine. That part is an interpretation based on the announced switch from character-based limits to server-based limits, but it follows directly from the official wording in NCSoft’s notice.

Why this matters right now

The real headline is not just the rule change. It is the warning attached to it. The official April 15 notice makes it clear that unfinished mission tasks will not simply sit there waiting for players after maintenance. They will be automatically abandoned. That makes this less of a background system update and more of a “clean this up before patch day” situation.

For casual players, that probably means checking mission progress before April 22 and making sure nothing useful is left half-finished. For more active players, especially anyone spreading daily mission progress across multiple characters on one server, this could change how efficient that routine feels after the patch. Again, that second point is interpretation, but it is directly tied to the move described in both the official NCSoft notice and the supporting Lounge summary.

What players should do before April 22

The safest move is simple: before the April 22, 2026 maintenance, go through your active daily missions, finish the ones worth keeping, and claim the rewards. Do not assume partial progress will survive the update, because the official source from NCSoft says the opposite.

This is one of those AION 2 changes that looks small in the headline but could be very noticeable in day-to-day play. And in MMO terms, “I’ll sort that out later” has a long tradition of turning into “well, that was annoying.”

Sources

• Official NCSoft AION 2 notice — April 15, 2026
• AION 2 Lounge summary post

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AION 2’s April 15 Known Issues List Is Worth Checking Before You Waste Time

 

AION 2’s official April 15 known issues notice is not the biggest post NCSoft has put out this month, but it may be one of the more useful ones for players trying to avoid unnecessary frustration. While the recent April 15 update added Abyss fixes, Treego Festival changes, UI improvements, and compensation, NCSoft also confirmed that several problems are still sitting in the queue.

The first issue is a misleading combat power display

According to the official known issues post, there is currently a problem in Sanctuary > Squad Information where the displayed combat power for squad members does not match the actual value. That may sound cosmetic, but in a game where players constantly compare strength, readiness, and whether someone is about to become a liability, incorrect combat power numbers are not exactly a harmless little typo.

One Asmodian regional quest is also blocked

The same official NCSoft notice says players are currently unable to complete the Asmodian regional quest “The Beginning of the Aftermath”. NCSoft says the relevant team is investigating the issue and that further handling will be explained in a later announcement. So if you have been standing there wondering whether you missed a step, the answer may simply be that the quest itself is currently the problem.

The UI filter problem is the most practical one to know

The third issue in the official April 15 known issues update is probably the one with the clearest day-to-day impact. NCSoft says that in the Expedition, Transcendence, and Sanctuary UI, applying your own race as a filter can prevent you from checking waiting rooms properly. Unlike the other two issues, this one already has a target fix window attached: NCSoft says it is scheduled to be corrected during the April 22 regular maintenance.

Why this matters more than a routine bug list

What makes this known issues post worth covering is that all three problems hit systems players actually use. This is not some hidden edge-case bug affecting one obscure menu in the corner of the interface. It touches squad readability, regional quest progression, and group-content UI flow. That also makes it a useful companion read next to our earlier coverage of AION 2’s April 8 update, the more recent March 26 emergency maintenance compensation notice, and the bigger enforcement story in AION 2’s 940-account permanent ban wave. Taken together, they keep showing the same thing: AION 2 is still in heavy live-service correction mode.

The known issues post also changes how players should read the patch

The official April 15 update notes made the patch look like a broad cleanup pass, with improvements to Abyss traversal, Treego Festival behavior, UI readability, boss encounters, and Dimensional Core compensation. The known issues notice adds the missing footnote: yes, things were cleaned up, but no, the job is not finished yet. That makes the patch easier to read as an ongoing maintenance phase rather than a neat “problem solved” moment.

What players should actually do now

If you are playing AION 2 on the Taiwan service, the practical move is pretty simple. Do not rely too heavily on Squad Information combat power numbers until NCSoft says the display issue is fixed. If you are stuck on the Asmodian regional quest “The Beginning of the Aftermath”, assume it may be blocked by the known issue rather than by your own progress. And if you use the race filter inside Expedition, Transcendence, or Sanctuary, remember that the waiting-room issue is currently expected to be fixed on April 22.

In other words, this is one of those MMO notices that looks boring until it saves you twenty minutes of confusion. And that, in fairness, is a pretty solid use of a known issues post.

Sources

• Official AION 2 April 15 Known Issues Notice
• Official AION 2 April 15 Update News
• PURPLE Lounge mirror of the April 15 Known Issues Notice

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