NC opened pre-download for AION 2 on September 28, 2026, two days before advanced access begins on September 30, according to the developer’s Steam announcement. The files download encrypted and unlock on September 30 for Founder’s Pack owners; everyone else can play free when the game officially launches worldwide on October 5.
How Pre-Download and Advanced Access Work
NC’s steps are short: buy a Founder’s Pack on Steam or through its own Purple launcher, download the game, then “allow decryption on September 30.” The studio stresses that decryption is not a reinstall, but warns that how long it takes depends on your PC’s specifications. Anyone who waits until advanced access opens to download will be limited by their own connection speed, which is the practical reason to start now.
NC has not published an unlock hour for September 30. Its post-test schedule lists advanced access from September 30 to October 4 and the official launch on October 5. Players who joined the recent Launch Scale Test on Steam must uninstall the separate Playtest app and download AION 2 itself; Purple players need to do nothing.
Price, Regions and Platforms
AION 2 Global is free-to-play. The Founder’s Packs are the paid way in early, at $24.99 (Standard), $49.99 (Deluxe) and $99.99 (Ultimate) on the US Steam store. Every tier includes the five days of early access, a 30-day Special Quai Membership, a supply chest and the “Vanguard of Atreia” title; the higher tiers add armor and weapon skins, and the Ultimate pack adds a Black Dragon pet and wings.
That membership is worth reading closely. NC lists access to the Market, Personal Trading and Remote Storage among its perks, and it has separately disabled direct player-to-player trades as an anti-bot measure, leaving the Market as the main place to trade.
Servers are confirmed for North America, South America, Europe and Japan, with eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Japanese and Korean. The global version is PC only, on Windows. NC says the game is playable with a controller but has not committed to full controller support at launch.
What This Means for Players
If you plan to buy a Founder’s Pack, download now so launch day is only a decryption wait. If you plan to play free, nothing changes until October 5, and you will arrive after five days of Founders leveling ahead of you. NC’s updated queue policy puts “members in good standing” into a priority queue when a server is full, which it calls “a privilege, not a guarantee.”
Coming from a subscription MMO? Our breakdown of how much World of Warcraft costs each month is the obvious benchmark for a free game with a paid membership. Blizzard’s own fresh start is covered in which WoW: Forever ruleset you should choose and on our World of Warcraft hub, and our best RPGs of 2026 so far rounds up the year’s other big role-playing releases.
Source: NC, “Pre-download Available Now” (September 28, 2026), “Launch Scale Test Comes to a Close: What’s Next?” and “Founder’s Pack Content Showcase” on Steam.