Aion heads to Europe in September

By Robert Purchese Published 23 June, 2009

NCsoft's big hope just months away.

NCsoft has announced that big-budget MMO Aion: The Tower of Eternity will be released in Europe on 25th September.

Those pre-ordering the game will have access to the closed beta, the next bout of which begins on 3rd July - next Friday - and ends on 6th July. Three further closed beta sessions follow: 17th July to 20th July; 31st July to 3rd August; and 14th August to 17th August.

There's no word on open beta dates yet.

Aion is NCsoft's first major MMO launch since Tabula Rasa, which didn't last very long. Luckily Aion looks to be in better shape; slick, robust and polished. But whether its Korean charms will work in the West remains to be seen.

Head over to our meaty hands-on impressions of Aion to find out more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • collateral89 #1 3 years ago

    transformers revenge of the fallen was a brilliant film a must see

  • Scimarad #2 3 years ago

    Aion is number one in my 'I wish it wasn't an MMO' list. Just ahead of Old Republic.

  • stevetuck #3 3 years ago

    So another flavor of the month RPG? :p

  • TruSmiles #4 3 years ago

    The only place in the UK offering Beta codes are GAME, unless you order it as a digital download from the NCSoft website.

  • ZuluHero #5 3 years ago

    I think the next event is the 2nd - 6th actually.

    From Aionsource:

    -----------------------------------------------------------< br /> Upcoming Closed Beta Events

    Closed Beta Event #3 - July 2-July 6
    Focus: Asmodian levels 1-20

    Closed Beta Event #4 - July 17-July 20
    Focus: Elyos and Asmodian levels 1-25

    Closed Beta Event #5 - July 31-August 3
    Focus: TBD

    Closed Beta Event #6 - August 14-August 17
    Focus: TBD
    ------------------------------------------------------------

    The other dates you posted seem to be right.


    I really had a blast in the beta event just gone, it really surprised me how polished the game was (even in a closed beta). We should be seeing more quests and localisation going in soon (including voice-overs for the cutscenes) which will be great.

    The GAME preorder incentive was a total sham, i eventually got my code - the day the beta weekend finished!

    Luckily i had also preordered a standard version of the game from Amazon.co.uk - who did a remarkable job of securing beta codes AND posting them before the event went live - even though they weren't even listed as "official partners" for the bonus! :S

    Im not going to cancel my preorder with them after they did such a great job, i guess it means that brother will be getting an early christmas present and i'll (selfishly) will have someone to play with! :)
    Edited by 1 at 23/06/09 @ 20:40

  • mkreku #6 3 years ago

    Why don't more MMO's have open, streaming worlds like World of Warcraft? I tried playing Conan once (trial) but the constant loading of zones (that weren't even big) never made the game feel like a coherent world. Will Aion be the same?

  • ZuluHero #7 3 years ago

    @mkreku

    I think Aion is zone based too - but the zones are massive. The starter area alone consisted of about 5 areas (no loading between them). Each one about as big as Elwynn in WoW. They were all pretty varied too (Well, Elyos side), starting off in grassy field's, a huge lake, a forest (not unlike Feralas) a strip mine, a mushroom forest and even a cave system.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 08:53

  • Hypercube #8 3 years ago

    I've pre-ordered from Play, doesn't look like they're doing the codes. To be honest, if the beta is going well I don't mind not getting into it - that "honeymoon" perioud when starting a new MMO is always the best bit, and getting in on the first day with the other newbs is always fun.

    I don't really mind if Aion is zoned, it can be done well.

    Quick question @ZuluHero - is there crafting in Aion? Haven't seen anyone mention it yet.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 09:48

  • ZuluHero #9 3 years ago

    Yeah there is crafting, but i was too busy questing to get in to it and don't know a lot about it, so im probably not the best person to ask.

    I did a bit of harvesting however and it seems that you don't need to have a specifc skill to harvest specific things, like ore for example. As long as your collecting skill level is of the required level, you can harvest anything. I started out picking flowers in the first area (i'm going to avoid using the term zone to avoid confusion) and by the 3rd area i was able to mine Iron Ore.

  • iokthemonkey #10 3 years ago

    Be advised this game apparently ships with a rather hideous and invasive "protection" system. Yes, even though it's an MMO with an account you need to sign-up to play and all that, it's also got a "lovely" DRM system on it.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/09 @ 11:52

  • ZuluHero #11 3 years ago

    There is talk of removing it though. The software in question is Game Guard. It's not intrusive in anyway, i don't even know that its there - but i guess the same could be said about the most malicious viruses :)

  • WinterSnowblind #12 3 years ago

    The game looks pretty interesting, but the monthly fee alone completely turns me off. I guess it won't be a problem for the MMO crowd, but I just don't feel like paying so much every month for a game I'll only occasionally be able to play, especially as it'll probably be shut down in a year or two.

    Old Republic is the only MMO that may change my stance on monthly fees, but even then, I'm hoping they can come up with some better payment system.

  • leshark #13 2 years ago

    lol if only it was that easy to try it getting a aion eu open beta key
    its just MAD its like askin for gold dust it just aint happening :(