NC

10:32 NC Corporation, known as NCSOFT until Mar 26, 2026, is the South Korean game company that develops and publishes Aion 2, as it did the original Aion in 2008. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, it is also behind Lineage, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars (GamesBeat), and Steam lists "NC" as both developer and publisher of Aion 2. NC runs the Korean and Taiwanese service itself; the worldwide version is published through NC America, whose first "Beyond the Abyss" livestream on Aug 7, 2026 promised to explain "NC America's mission on publishing" to the new western audience. NC America opened Founder's Pack Advanced Access on Steam and PURPLE on Sep 30, 2026, ahead of the free global launch on Oct 5, and NC has signed Shengqu Games to publish the game in China.

Quick facts

From NCSOFT to NC

NCSOFT changed its corporate name to NC at its shareholders' meeting in Seongnam on Mar 26, 2026. The Korea Times reported that the company wanted to expand its business portfolio beyond its core gaming operations and had been preparing the change since 2020; the report names affiliates including NC AI, NC QA, NC IDS, NC America and NC Japan (Korea Times). Sources from before that date, including every announcement around Aion 2's Korean launch, say NCSOFT.

1:51 PURPLE, the launcher through which NC sells and runs its own games, predates Aion 2. Society Of Gaming, a creator who has used it for about seven years, describes it as NC's global platform, where he has played Aion, Throne and Liberty and Lineage Classic; Aion 2 is available on it in every region (Platforms).

NC America and global publishing

NC America, based in Irvine, California, is "the western publishing division and strategic global base for NC". It handles live production and publishing for Aion 2 in North America, South America, Europe and Oceania (NC press release, Apr 21, 2026).

49:05 On that first stream, NC America's executive publishing producer explained why the team had started talking to players before launch. What he most admired about the Aion 2 team in Korea, he said, was that its decision makers stand in front of players, host in-person events and weekly livestreams and listen even to critical feedback, and the global team would "emulate that approach".

51:10 He used the same stream to announce the first change made in response to western feedback: after two weeks of criticism that the Founder's Packs contained no Membership, he had decided to add 30 days of Membership to every tier, including packs already bought. NC confirmed the change on Steam on Aug 21, 2026.

55:06 The western staff had not only watched the Korean game. The producer said he had been playing the live Taiwanese version, which he enjoyed despite the language gap and the latency, and was ready for a "domestic" Aion 2.

11:25 NC America followed with gameplay broadcasts: a dungeon showcase on Sep 4, 2026, played by a party of NC America staff that included its senior producer and community broadcaster, and a PvP showcase on Sep 11. Around gamescom it also released a 0:00 Road to Global Launch video and a 0:00 developer diary shown at the Future Games Show, both on Aug 26, 2026.

Hardcore Gamer's interview at Summer Game Fest in June 2026 set out the approach. NC Director of Operations Daniel LaFuente described the pacing of content as a balance: "We go too quickly, players feel like you're pressuring them... We go too slow, maybe they're bored because they want more content." The global release, the interview reported, will run about a year behind Korea, with decisions driven by community input and player progression data (Hardcore Gamer). The full story of the western launch is on Global Release.

The global launch

1:54:54 NC America ran the launch campaign itself. At the end of its Launch Scale Test stream on Sep 18, 2026, community broadcaster Stella revealed War for Atreia: 60 MMORPG creators in six teams across North America, Europe and Latin America, fighting a two-week campaign from Sep 30 with competitive events, viewer challenges and Twitch drops, after a draft stream on Sep 23. NC's first description had the event starting with a live draft at NC America's Irvine studio (NC press release, Sep 21, 2026). On Sep 29 NC America also opened a creator program for streamers and video makers, run through the platform Lurkit, with Affiliate, Creator and Partner tiers (NC on Steam).

The launch's public face was Merv Lee Kwai, whose title varies from source to source: Executive Publishing Producer in NC's release of Sep 21, co-CEO of NC America and Executive Publishing Producer for Aion 2 in its release of Sep 30, and NC America VP of Operations in MassivelyOP's report of Sep 29. In an interview with MMORPG.com published on Sep 28 he defined success as participation, honoring the franchise and "durability", and said the pace of global content was still undecided because regions consume content at different speeds (MMORPG.com). MassivelyOP's summary had him describing the MMO genre as being in "one of those low moments", and measuring success by a strong launch plus the endurance to keep producing content (MassivelyOP). When Aion 2 topped Steam's top sellers on Sep 30, he said: "Reaching #1 on Steam ahead of launch is a strong start, but a launch is only part of how we measure success", adding that success means steady content and trust earned over time (NC press release, Sep 30, 2026; Reception and Revenue).

The global servers run on Microsoft Azure, under a partnership between NC and Microsoft Korea announced on Sep 15, 2026 (Inven Global). According to iNews24, NC uses Azure to scale server capacity region by region and works with Microsoft from load checks before launch through incident response after it (iNews24). Early access still opened an hour late on Sep 30 and brought long queues, and NC added server pairs through the day (Servers).

NC's plans beyond PC were set out in a Wccftech Q&A with Namjoon Kim, Merv Lee Kwai and Andrew Long published on Sep 7, 2026: a console version is planned after the PC launch, cross-play with it "probably won't be supported", there are "no plans for the mobile version", and DLSS 5 is in the works with NVIDIA (Wccftech; Platforms). mein-mmo reported on Sep 30, citing a Japanese interview from July, that NC is working on a PS5 version, with no date given (mein-mmo).

China and the original Aion

NC and Shengqu Games signed a deal in Shanghai on Jul 30, 2026 for Shengqu to publish Aion 2 in China, under the Chinese title 永恒之塔2, with launch timing "to be announced later" (Korea Times). NC showed the game at Shengqu's booth at ChinaJoy 2026 in Shanghai from Jul 31 to Aug 3 (Joongang Economy News). Inven noted that the July 2026 list of games approved for release in China included an Aion mobile title but not Aion 2 (Inven). The global version does not serve China, Hong Kong or Macau (Platforms).

NC also keeps the original game running. On Sep 25, 2026 MassivelyOP reported Aion Reforged, a new server for the original Aion with auto-hunting and several other changes, launching on Oct 20 with pre-registration open. It is a separate game from Aion 2 (MassivelyOP).

The people behind Aion 2

Baek and Kim hosted the first Aion2NIGHT livestream on May 29, 2025, which revealed the game's core content (Development History). In August 2025 Kim promised that "the Trade system enables players to exchange items using in-game currency instead of premium currency", and in January 2026 he thanked players after revenue passed KRW 100 billion "within just a month and a half". At launch Baek summed up the game as "a fully realized world where you can walk, fly, and swim across everything you see". Accepting the Game of G-Star award on Dec 1, 2025, Kim said NC would "continue to listen to our users' feedback".

What Aion 2 has meant for NC

Aion 2's Korean launch on Nov 19, 2025 was troubled. MassivelyOP reported that NC's share price fell by about 15% as players found gear-enhancement items in the cash shop, and developers apologized on a livestream (Korea and Taiwan Launch, Controversies). The revenue that followed was large. The figures below are NC's own reported results.

In the first quarter of 2026 PC revenue rose 69% on the previous quarter, driven by Aion 2 and Lineage Classic, and overseas sales grew to 42% of the total (TheElec). Aion 2's second-quarter revenue was lower, 47% below the first quarter by The Elec's figures (The Elec), and NC pointed to rebounds in user numbers and sales in July and August (TheElec). Overseas sales reached 52% of NC's revenue in the second quarter, up from 35% a year earlier, helped by mobile casual studios it had acquired such as JustPlay, and finance chief Hong Won-joon said NC was aiming for large inflow and retention worldwide with the global launch (Newspim; iNews24). The global launch was first scheduled in NC's investor reports for the second half of 2026, then the third quarter; early access opened on Sep 30, the last day of that quarter, and the free launch falls on Oct 5. Game-by-game detail, analysts' forecasts for the global version and NC's share price before early access are on Reception and Revenue.

Frequently asked questions

Is NC the same company as NCSOFT? Yes. NCSOFT Corporation renamed itself NC Corporation at its shareholders' meeting on Mar 26, 2026.

Who publishes Aion 2 in the West? NC, through NC America in Irvine, California, which handles live production and publishing in North America, South America, Europe and Oceania. It opened the global version's early access on Steam and PURPLE on Sep 30, 2026.

Who is Merv Lee Kwai? The NC America executive who leads Aion 2's global publishing. NC's releases call him Executive Publishing Producer and, from Sep 30, 2026, also co-CEO of NC America; MassivelyOP has called him NC America's VP of Operations.

Is Aion 2 coming to China? NC signed Shengqu Games to publish it there on Jul 30, 2026, with the launch timing to be announced later. The global version does not serve mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.

Is Aion Reforged the same as Aion 2? No. Aion Reforged is a new server for the original 2008 Aion, launching on Oct 20, 2026, and is a separate game.

Who directs Aion 2? Namjoon Kim, first named as producer and later as Development Producer and Game Director. Seungwook Baek, NC's Chief Business Officer, heads Aion 2 development and is its executive producer.

What else does NC make? Lineage, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars, besides the original Aion.

How much money has Aion 2 made? NC reported Aion 2 revenue above KRW 100 billion within 46 days of launch, 77.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, 136.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and 71.9 billion in the second. These are the company's own figures for Korea and Taiwan; none had been reported for the global version as of Sep 30, 2026.

Sources

• NCSOFT rebrands as NC in corporate name change, Korea Times, Mar 26, 2026
• NC promotes Aion 2 during gamescom Opening Night Live, GamesBeat, Aug 25, 2026
• Aion 2 launching this year on PC, NC press release on Gamespress, Apr 21, 2026
• NC to bring Korean Aion 2 changes to global market, NC press release on Gamespress, Jun 25, 2026
• Aion 2 on Steam and "30-Day Membership Added to Founder's Packs", NC on Steam, Aug 21, 2026, retrieved Sep 15, 2026
• Aion2 Core Content Reveal, Jun 4, 2025; Aion2NIGHT recap, Aug 12, 2025; launch release, Nov 18, 2025; Season 2 roadmap, Jan 7, 2026; NC
• Aion 2 SGF interview, Hardcore Gamer, Jun 16, 2026
• NC, Shengqu Games sign deal to bring Aion 2 to China, Korea Times, Jul 31, 2026
• Aion 2 at ChinaJoy 2026, Joongang Economy News, Aug 2026
• China's July 2026 game approvals, Inven, Jul 2026
• Aion 2 Q&A: DLSS 5, console, cross-play, Wccftech, Sep 7, 2026
• NC and Microsoft strengthen global partnership for Aion 2, Inven Global, Sep 15, 2026
• NC's War for Atreia creator event, NC America press release on Games Press, Sep 21, 2026
• Aion Reforged will relaunch the core MMO next month with several changes, MassivelyOP, Sep 25, 2026
• Interview: Aion 2's Merv Lee Kwai on the MMO genre, risks and what success looks like, MMORPG.com (Joseph Bradford), Sep 28, 2026
• NC America's Merv Lee Kwai on the MMORPG genre's low moment and what success is for Aion 2, MassivelyOP, Sep 29, 2026
• "Introducing the Aion 2 Creator Program", NC on Steam, Sep 29, 2026
• Aion 2 reaches #1 on Steam Top Sellers chart ahead of global launch, NC America press release on Games Press, Sep 30, 2026
• Aion 2 global launch preview, Newspim, Sep 30, 2026, and NC's global test for Aion 2, iNews24 via Daum, Sep 30, 2026
• Aion 2 global launch: reception, revenue and analyst estimates, The Elec, Sep 30, 2026
• Aion 2 on console: PS5 and Xbox, mein-mmo (Karsten Scholz), updated Sep 30, 2026
• NC first-quarter results, TheElec, May 15, 2026, and second-quarter results, TheElec, Aug 28, 2026
• Aion 2's chaotic and overmonetized Korean release, Nov 19, 2025; players continue to revolt, Nov 22, 2025; NCSOFT Q1 2026, May 14, 2026; NCSOFT Q2 2026, Aug 11, 2026; MassivelyOP
• NCSoft's 'Aion 2' Named This Year's 'Game of G-Star', Asia Economy, Dec 2, 2025
• NC (Q483036), Wikidata
• Beyond the Abyss: Global Release Preview, Aug 7, 2026; Dungeon Live Gameplay Showcase, Sep 4, 2026; Road to Global Launch, Aug 26, 2026; Aion 2 Official (videos)
• Aion 2 Developer Diary - Future Games Show at gamescom 2026, FGS, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2: Steam or Purple? Don't Choose Wrong for Global Release!, Society Of Gaming, Aug 4, 2026 (video)
• Launch Scale Test: Let's Play with Stella, Aion 2 Official, Sep 18, 2026 (video)