Aion 2 Keeps Big Steam Numbers, But Server-Based Membership Is Annoying Players

Aion 2 is still drawing a large crowd two weeks after its global launch, but the conversation around NC’s MMORPG has shifted toward its monetization.

According to SteamDB figures cited in the report, Aion 2 peaked at 310,363 concurrent players on Steam on October 18. That’s about 78% of its post-launch high of 397,905, a strong hold for a new MMORPG. It also puts the game ahead of the peak set by Throne and Liberty, NC’s 2024 global release, which reached 336,300 concurrent players.

The rougher part is user sentiment. Aion 2’s positive review share reportedly started around 73%, but has since fallen to about 58%, leaving it in “Mixed” territory. The main complaint is the game’s business model, especially its monthly membership.

The membership costs $14.99 per month, but it applies per server rather than account-wide. That means players who want to play characters across multiple servers need separate memberships. The membership is also tied to features such as the item exchange, which has made the setup a sticking point for players used to standard subscriptions or one-time purchases.

NC has pointed to server transfer rights as one answer. Players can move characters between servers, either to bring friends together or to consolidate characters under one server membership. That doesn’t change the per-server pricing, but it does give players a way to avoid paying across multiple servers if they reorganize their characters.

The studio is also going after gold farming and macro accounts. NC sanctioned 7,933 abnormal accounts on October 16 and another 10,326 on October 17, according to the report. Gold farming has been a long-running problem in MMORPGs, especially when it starts distorting in-game economies or feeding real-money trading.

There’s also some frustration from South Korean players. Some fixes based on feedback from the Korean and Taiwan service were applied to global servers first, before hitting the original live regions. During a developer livestream, NC said some changes are easier to make on a newly launched global service, while existing domestic servers need more care to avoid hurting current players. The company said it plans to bring those improvements to domestic servers as soon as possible.