AION 2 launch stats, with sources
AION 2 launch timeline
Times are UTC unless a notice gave another zone. Each row links to where we read it.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 13:30 UTC | Paid Early Access (Advanced Access) opens, 30 minutes later than first planned. | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Sep 30 |
| Sep 30 | Early Access peak: 171,530 concurrent Steam players. Hardcore Gamer put it at "over 170,000". | Tech Times, Oct 7, citing SteamDB |
| Sep 30 to Oct 2 | NCSOFT adds 7 more Advanced Access server pairs in Europe, NA East and NA West. | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Sep 30 |
| Oct 5, 13:00 UTC | Global launch, free to play, on time at 6:00 AM PDT. | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Oct 5 |
| Oct 5 | NCSOFT thanks players for reaching 300,000 and then 400,000 "active users". That is NCSOFT's own count, not a Steam figure; the notice does not define it. | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Oct 5 |
| Oct 5 | Launch-day Steam peak: 397,905 concurrent players (activeplayer.io shows 397,840). | Shacknews and Game Rant, citing SteamDB |
| Oct 8 | One more Europe server pair opens: Nathara (Elyos) and Tassin (Asmodian). | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Oct 8 |
| Oct 14, 04:13 UTC | Our own 10-minute collector starts. Every later number on this site is a sample we took. | Our Steam API samples |
| Oct 14, 06:30 to 10:30 UTC | 4-hour game server maintenance. Steam still counted 11,887 to 15,466 clients between 07:10 and 10:20 UTC in our samples. | NCSOFT notice on Steam, Oct 13 |
AION 2 daily peak players
Peak concurrent Steam players per UTC day since Early Access. Days before Oct 14 have no sample of ours, so only the reported records appear.
Loading daily peaks...
How the AION 2 launch compares on Steam
Figures as printed by Tech Times on Oct 7, which cites SteamDB. Tech Times also wrote that Throne and Liberty reached about 50,000 daily peak players in its own paid Early Access, against 171,530 for AION 2.
| Launch | Concurrent Steam players |
|---|---|
| AION 2 launch day, Oct 5, 2026 | 397,905 |
| Throne and Liberty, NC's previous global MMORPG (2024), all-time Steam peak | 336,300 |
| Lost Ark, the MMORPG Steam record (February 2022) | 1,325,305 |
What the launch numbers count
A Steam peak is the highest number of Steam clients running the game at one moment. It counts idle clients too, and it leaves out everyone who plays through NC's PURPLE launcher on the same servers (Tech Times). The Korean and Taiwanese version, which Tech Times says launched in November 2025, has no servers in the official global list, so its players are not in these numbers either.
NCSOFT's "400,000 active users" notice on launch day is NCSOFT's own measure, so it should not be read against the Steam peak. Shacknews notes that a press release from the developer said 400,000 concurrent players, while SteamDB, as the articles quote it, peaked at 397,905. Hardcore Gamer adds that during Early Access AION 2 was the top seller on Steam in fifteen country charts.
For the number right now and how it compares with launch day, see the AION 2 player count page.
AION 2 launch questions
When did AION 2 launch on Steam?
Paid Early Access opened on Sep 30, 2026 at 13:30 UTC. The free-to-play global launch on Steam followed on Oct 5, 2026 at 6:00 AM PDT (13:00 UTC). Both times come from NCSOFT's notices on Steam.
How many players did AION 2 have on launch day?
397,905 concurrent Steam players on Oct 5, according to SteamDB as reported by Shacknews, Tech Times and Game Rant. The Early Access peak on Sep 30 was 171,530 (Tech Times). NCSOFT's own "400,000 active users" the same day is NCSOFT's own count, not a Steam figure.