AION 2 Draws Nearly 400,000 Concurrent Players on Steam, but Early Reviews Flag Monetization

AION 2 drew blockbuster numbers on Steam as soon as its full global PC launch opened, even as early player sentiment stayed divided. SteamDB recorded an all-time peak of 397,905 concurrent Steam players for NC’s free-to-play MMORPG on Oct. 5, its first full launch day, while Steam and SteamDB listed the game’s user-review rating as “Mixed.”

The global PC release went live Oct. 5 on Steam and NC’s PURPLE platform, following a paid Advance Access period that began Sept. 30 for buyers of Founder’s Packs. On Steam’s official Most Played chart, AION 2 was ranked No. 4 as of 13:00 UTC on Oct. 6, with 333,199 current players and a “peak today” of 397,905.

That strong turnout did not translate into uniformly positive reviews. Early user feedback on Steam and SteamDB showed AION 2 at about 66.8% positive from roughly 11,680 reviews, enough for a “Mixed” label. The dominant complaints were not about the game’s disclosed use of AI-generated assets, but about monetization, with players repeatedly raising pay-to-win concerns and describing the free-to-play structure as restrictive.

Examples cited in product notices and community documentation include a 30-day paid Special Quai Membership, which gates some market and exchange access, and Quna, the game’s premium currency, which is sold in bundles. Players pointed to those systems as part of a broader complaint that the game puts too much behind paid features. A representative Steam community review posted Oct. 3 said: “AION 2 - Advertises itself as F2P, but feels more like F2SP.”

The Steam store page also includes an AI Generated Content Disclosure from NC, but that issue appeared to be secondary in early user feedback compared with monetization. The disclosure says: “Some in-game assets were created with the assistance of AI tools. Arcana card designs and some icons use AI-generated assets.”

AION 2 is not a new franchise. It is the sequel to Aion: The Tower of Eternity, the long-running MMORPG first released in 2008, which helps explain the scale of launch interest. NC also said in a Jan. 7, 2026, press release that the game’s earlier Korea and Taiwan launch on Nov. 19, 2025, generated more than 100 billion South Korean won in revenue within 46 days, and that more than 1 million characters purchased memberships. That earlier momentum made the game’s global Steam debut one of the more closely watched MMO launches of the year.