Aion going free-to-play in Europe

NCSoft has announced that in Europe, it is teaming up with free-to-play publisher Gameforge to offer Aion free to play.

The change is being done to encourage new players to join Aion Europe. Free players will be able to level up to 55, and will have full access to game content, with restrictions on chat and trade. Players can continue to purchase a gold subscription to unlock those features, plus add additional bonuses like experience and instance cooldowns.

NCsoft also publishes Lineage II and City of Heroes. Gameforge also publishes Metin 2 and 4Story.

Aion Gameplay Screenshot

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New publisher for Aion – in association with Gameforge, MMO will be free to play from Spring 2012.

There’s good news: from February 2012, Aion will be switching to a free-to-play model – the monthly subscriptions will then be history!

For the switch-over, NCsoft has teamed up with the German publisher Gameforge. The Gameforge Aion-Team consists of 38 employees and they will soon be responsible for the running of the game across the whole of Europe. Together with NCsoft they will continuously further develop and create new content for Aion in order to offer you a unique gaming experience – and all for free.

Why are we switching to free-to-play?
Switching to free-to-play opens the lands of Atreia up to new adventurers. As more Daevas take to the skies, the increase in population will make for a more diverse and expansive community for newcomers and existing fans to enjoy.

What will the change mean for you? What will happen to your existing account? All the answers to such questions can be found in our extensive FAQ. If there is something in particular that you are not sure about and that isn’t covered by the FAQ, then you are very welcome to send us your question via email to support@aionfreetoplay.com. We will get back to you with an answer as fast as we can.

As soon as there is more information on Aion and the switch to free-to-play, you will find it here. We will keep you up to date and we look forward to all and any feedback you have to give us!

Kind regards,
The Gameforge Aion-Team