Aion 2, a game that openly uses generative AI to create in-game assets, has swiftly become one of 2026's most-played games.
With its full release yesterday, NCSoft's anime-inspired MMORPG leapfrogged games like Resident Evil Requiem and Meccha Chameleon, reaching almost 400,000 concurrent players on Steam.
Aion 2 was always set to do big numbers. It launched yesterday as a free-to-play title, but even its paid early-access version achieved a concurrent player count of over 170,000. That more than doubled as the free version hit Steam.
Within a few hours of launch, Aion 2 hit an all-time peak concurrent player count of 397,905. This saw it eclipse some of 2026's biggest titles, including Resident Evil Requiem, Meccha Chameleon, and Forza Horizon 6 to become the fourth most-played title of the year. Only Task Bar Hero, Subnautica 2, and Wardogs have been released this year and enjoyed a higher concurrent player count.
Developer NCSoft has integrated its proprietary VARCO AI framework into Aion 2, sparking controversy around the title. The VARCO framework allows its developers to generate text, assets, and audio using generative AI, as well as create code and run QA...
