As of today, February 28th, all language versions of the European version of Aion are now free-to-play. NCSoft is branding the change as “Truly Free,” but the same basic principles apply: no subscription fees, no account restrictions, and no level limit (up to the cap of 60, that is). In addition to the “Truly Free” model, NCSoft is also promising that game abuse will be combated with countermeasures, and that players will not be subject to harassment from the company itself with constant offers and promotions.
EU players who are interested in diving into Aion can download the Gameforge client here. (Note: at the time of this writing, the aionfreetoplay.com download link is having difficulty loading, so players should use the direct Gameforge link mentioned previously for now.) Players who had previously played and set aside Aion for whatever reason can also reactivate their accounts to continue their adventures as a Daeva starting today. Currently subscribed players who transferred their accounts by the 27th receive a Veteran status that provides enhanced functions; the details of which can be found here.
US players don’t get the free-to-play experience yet, but they get the next best thing: an extended trial up to level 40 until the “Truly Free” version launches. Players who find themselves reaching the cap quickly can create as many alternate characters as they like to pass the time until the US changeover. The “Truly Free” release will coincide with the 3.0 update to Aion (being called Aion: Ascension) which will bring numerous upgrades such as mounts, housing, areas and dungeons. There is no official date for the change on this end of the Atlantic, but based on the date that players need to subscribe by to receive a Daevanion armor set (March 12th), my educated guess is a March 13th launch.
In a slightly awkward turn, US players looking to take advantage of the extended trial will need to register and download the client from the normal Aion website, as opposed to the free-to-play one. My assumption is that all players will need to download the Gameforge client when the game becomes free, but there’s no skipping ahead to that step to try and avoid a second install (I can personally confirm that much, at least). While waiting for the game to install, check out the Ascension trailer and get up to speed on what to expect with the Aion game guide. I’ll be stepping into Aion for the first time as well today, so hopefully I’ll see you in Atreia!
