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 2 Hits 940 Accounts With Permanent Bans in a Much Bigger New Crackdown

AION 2 has posted a much larger enforcement notice on the Taiwan service, and this one is big enough that players probably noticed before even opening the full post. In the official 82nd sanctions notice, published on April 2, 2026, NCSoft said it had issued permanent bans to 940 accounts for violations tied to its operating policy.

What the official notice says

According to the official notice, the permanently banned accounts were penalized under categories tied to “workshop” activity and the use, creation, or distribution of unofficial programs. NCSoft also linked a sanctions list and, in the same update, said 1,747 accounts received 7-day suspensions for issues including unofficial programs, disruptive behavior, and attempted real-money trading. The company also notes that repeated violations can escalate to a permanent ban after multiple strikes.

This is a very different scale from what we saw in late March

That is what makes this worth covering as its own story. In our earlier piece on AION 2 Penalizes 62 More Accounts Over Abyss and Spacetime Rift Abuse, the crackdown was focused on a much smaller batch of accounts tied to abuse in competitive content. This new April 2 notice is broader, harsher, and much more clearly aimed at cleaning up the overall game environment rather than just one specific exploit lane.

It also fits the pattern AION 2 has been showing lately

Over the past couple of weeks, AION 2 has looked very much like a game in active live-service cleanup mode. We already saw that in AION 2 Emergency Maintenance Compensation: What Happened on March 26 and What Players Needed to Claim,  where NCSoft pushed a targeted fix for a Spiritmaster PvP issue, and in AION 2 March 25 Update News Focuses on Class Skill Changes and Combat Tweaks,  where the focus was on rapid class and combat adjustments. Put together, the pattern is pretty clear: the team is still tuning systems, correcting issues, and policing the environment at the same time. That broader reading is an inference based on the sequence of official updates and notices.

Why this matters for ordinary players

A 62-account notice feels like a warning shot. A 940-account permanent-ban wave feels more like NCSoft deciding the warning period is over. For normal players, that matters because it suggests the company is willing to take large-scale action when it thinks account behavior is hurting the game. If you are playing fairly, that is usually a good sign. If you are relying on shady shortcuts, it is a pretty expensive way to test your luck.

The bigger takeaway

The real headline here is not just the number. It is the message behind it. AION 2 is still in a phase where NCSoft appears willing to move fast, tune aggressively, and swing hard when it sees abuse. In MMO terms, that usually means the studio wants players to notice that the cleanup is happening

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