Don't panic, highly anticipated sequel Aion 2 will come to Steam later this year

Some games just hit you in the right way, and you decide to dedicate your time to mastering them completely. Whether you stop at the platinum trophy or, in the case of regularly-updated MMORPGs, when the updates cease to satisfy your curiosity, you can always look forward to a sequel. In the case of Aion 2, however, that sequel is arriving 18 years after the original game was released. Luckily, it's getting a full release on Steam, with servers in four continents and multiple language options.

Developer NC America has confirmed that Aion 2 will release later this year on Steam and Purple, the developer's own launcher. While that may not seem like a particularly specific time period, fans who have waited nearly two decades for this moment won't mind one bit. Plus, it means we don't have to install another launcher just to get our grind on when the game releases.

NC also announced that the game will have servers based in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan. If you're further afield, in Oceania or Africa, you may have to deal with some serious ping issues, but if you're in any of those population hubs you should be good. The game will also be able to be played in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Simplified and Traditional Chinese languages.

If you don't know what kind of game Aion and its sequel are, where have you been all these years? I'm kidding, I bet half of you reading this weren't even born when the original released. Damn, that makes me feel old. Anyway, aside from the inescapable march of time and entropy, Aion's USP is that a significant portion of its world is airborne.

Aion 2 is expanding on that premise. Not only can you spread your wings to explore the air, it adds huge underwater worlds for you to navigate as well. All in all, the sequel is claimed to be 36 times bigger than the original. The trailers look suitably dazzling for a 2026 game, and the promise of luminescent bosses and creative fantasy fauna are enough to sign me up.

Aion 2 will be available on Steam in 2026. You can wishlist it here.

Balance PvE raids with PvP fights, choose your alignment within the world, and play a variety of laser-themed minigames - yes, really, and no, I don't know either - when Aion 2 launches later this year.