NCSoft's Highly Anticipated 'Aion 2' Launches with Up to 30,000 Waiting in Early Morning Server Queues

Launched at Midnight on the 19th in Korea and Taiwan
High Hopes as NCSoft Signals a New Beginning

NCSoft's highly anticipated new title for the second half of the year, Aion 2, is creating a buzz in the market immediately upon its release.

Image of Aion 2. Provided by NCSoft

According to NCSoft on November 19, Aion 2, which launched at midnight, saw such a surge of users that server queues peaked at up to 30,000 people in the early morning hours.

An NCSoft representative stated, "Queues formed immediately after the launch. Some users who tried to log in at midnight were only able to access the game around 2 a.m."

Based on download numbers, Aion 2 ranked first in popularity on mobile markets (Google Play and Apple App Store) even before its release. The game also entered the top three in Taiwan.

Aion 2 is a next-generation massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed with Unreal Engine 5. As the sequel to NCSoft's flagship intellectual property, Aion, it inherits the original's sentiment and universe while modernizing its technology and content. The game is characterized by extensive player-versus-environment (PvE) content and manual combat based on post-judgment mechanics.

The game industry is closely watching to see if Aion 2 can revive the stagnant atmosphere at NCSoft. The company has also staked its future on the game's success. For the first time since its founding, NCSoft participated as the main sponsor at Korea's largest game show, G-Star 2025, to showcase Aion 2. User anticipation and interest were so high that some waited up to four hours for a demo.

Aion 2's business model consists of a subscription-based "battle pass" and a membership priced at 20,000 to 30,000 won per month. Only items that do not affect in-game stats are sold for a fee. By moving away from the "pay-to-win" monetization structure used in Lineage, NCSoft aims to build user trust.

Starting with Aion 2, NCSoft plans to continue launching new titles next year. In addition to the previously announced Cinder City, Limit Zero Breakers, and Time Takers, the company is preparing for a global release next year of Horizon Steel Frontiers, which was unveiled for the first time at G-Star. NCSoft previously projected its revenue for next year at a minimum of 2 trillion won to 2.5 trillion won.