We now have considerably more answers.
NC has revealed the six War for Atreia Captains, with two creators representing each of the three participating regions: North America, Europe and Latin America. The remaining 54 creators will be selected during a live draft later today, September 23, beginning at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, or 19:00 CEST in Central Europe.
By the end of the broadcast, War for Atreia will have six complete 10-person Legions, each with its own name and sigil, ready for the competition beginning alongside AION 2 Advanced Access on September 30.
The Six War for Atreia Captains
NC has divided the competition into three regional groups, each led by two rival Captains:
- North America: Stoopzz and Sonii
- Europe: Baggins and Wakayashi
- Latin America: Rakin and Tixinha
Each region will ultimately field 20 creators, divided evenly between Elyos and Asmodians. That gives each faction ten creators per region and brings the total competition to the previously announced 60 participants.
This also answers one of the questions left open when we first covered the original War for Atreia announcement. The three participating territories are North America, Europe and Latin America. Japan, despite being one of the four global AION 2 server regions, is not part of this particular creator competition.
The Other 54 Creators Will Be Drafted Live
The six Captains are only the beginning.
The remaining 54 creators have been divided into three regional draft pools containing 18 players each. During today's live broadcast, the two rival Captains from each region will alternate picks until each has selected nine teammates.
Add the Captain, and each finished Legion contains ten creators.
NC is leaning surprisingly hard into the sports-draft presentation. Captains have been encouraged to publicly campaign for the creators they want before the show, while drafted participants will be able to react live as the selections happen.
Once all 54 picks have been made, each Legion will reveal its official name and sigil.
It is considerably more elaborate than simply handing 60 streamers a faction assignment and asking them to start shouting at one another on Discord. Although, given enough time, that may still happen naturally.
The Draft Starts at 19:00 CEST Today
The official War for Atreia draft broadcast begins today, September 23, at:
- 10:00 AM PDT on the US West Coast
- 1:00 PM EDT on the US East Coast
- 6:00 PM BST in the United Kingdom
- 7:00 PM CEST in Central Europe
- 2:00 PM BRT in Brazil
NC says the selection process will be shown through AION 2's official livestream channels, with both Twitch and YouTube being used for the event.
For European players, that makes tonight's 19:00 broadcast the first opportunity to see exactly who Baggins and Wakayashi select for their respective Legions.
We Finally Know More About How War for Atreia Is Scored
The original announcement was extremely vague about how anybody actually wins War for Atreia. NC has now provided a little more structure.
The event effectively contains two simultaneous competitions:
- the overall Faction War between Elyos and Asmodians
- the competition for the Top Legion
Campaign objectives completed by participating creators contribute toward the event, while the audience they recruit and engage also feeds into the wider competition.
NC also promises hidden bounties during the campaign, meaning teams will not necessarily know every scoring opportunity before the event begins.
The exact numerical scoring system has still not been published, so we do not yet know how heavily PvP, progression, audience participation or individual challenges will be weighted against one another.
But War for Atreia is clearly more than a simple kill-count competition inside the Abyss and AION 2's other PvP modes.
Viewers Are Getting Rewards Too
This is another detail NC had not confirmed when War for Atreia was first teased.
Viewers will be directly involved through exclusive viewing rewards, while NC is also planning follow-up Twitch Drops during the campaign.
The company has not yet published the complete reward table or exact requirements for earning each item, so we should not start promising specific cosmetics, pets or progression rewards until those details are official.
What is now confirmed is that watching participating creators will have an in-game incentive attached to it.
That makes sense for an event designed to run across the first two weeks of AION 2's permanent global service. NC wants players moving between streams, following the faction rivalry and becoming invested in individual Legions rather than treating War for Atreia as background marketing.
The Competition Begins September 30
The actual fighting begins on September 30, the same day Founder's Pack players enter AION 2 through Advanced Access.
That means the participating creators start from the beginning of permanent progression rather than receiving pre-built characters for the event. How quickly they level, gear and organize could therefore become part of the story before the full free-to-play population even arrives on October 5.
It also creates an interesting five-day opening period. Creators will be competing on AION 2's Early Access Servers before the second wave of Launch Servers comes online for the free release.
War for Atreia then continues beyond October 5, meaning the event spans both the Founder's Pack head start and AION 2's first proper week as a free-to-play global MMO.
Tonight We Finally Find Out Who Is Fighting With Whom
The first War for Atreia announcement gave us a good concept but remarkably few details.
That has changed quickly.
We now know the six Captains. We know North America, Europe and Latin America are the participating regions. We know each regional faction gets a 10-person Legion. We know the remaining 54 creators are being drafted live. We know there are separate faction and Legion competitions, hidden bounties and viewer rewards.
What we still do not know is arguably the most entertaining part: who ends up on which side.
That gets decided tonight.
And once the final names and sigils are revealed, the old AION question becomes considerably more personal.
Elyos or Asmodians?
