Is AION 2 free to play?
Yes. From 5 October anyone can download AION 2 on Steam or PURPLE and play it without paying. Money buys an earlier start, a membership that opens up buying from other players, and a shop of cosmetics, consumables and pass upgrades.
“AION 2 is free to play and is accessible to every player with no purchase required. How you invest is entirely up to you.”
What costs money
| What | Price | What it gets you |
|---|---|---|
| Founder's Pack | $24.99 / $49.99 / $99.99 | Five days of Early Access from 30 September, 30 days of membership, starter consumables and cosmetics. Sold until Early Access ends. |
| Special Quai Membership | $15 for 30 days | Buying on the Market, the World Market, the Kina and Quna exchange, remote storage and more, on one server. |
| Quna | Not published yet | The premium currency. Buys shop items and the paid pass track, and buys Kina from other players on the exchange. |
| Shop cosmetics | Not published yet | Outfits, wings, pets, weapon skins and accessories. NC says they give no gameplay or combat advantage. |
| Shop consumables | Not published yet | Potions, resurrection stones and similar. NC says the same items can be earned by playing. |
| Daeva Pass, premium track | Bought with Quna | Extra rewards on top of the free track, sold per character. |
NC has not published Quna prices or shop prices in its English notices. The packs and what binds to one character are compared on Founder’s Packs compared; the membership has its own page at membership cost.
What a free account cannot do
The real line between free and paying is the membership, not the shop. NC’s membership notice lists what changes when it is active; the left column is what you get without it:
| Feature | Without membership | With membership |
|---|---|---|
| Market | Items can be listed for sale; buying is unavailable | Listing and buying |
| World Market | Items cannot be listed or purchased | Items can be listed and purchased |
| Exchange | Unavailable | Kina and Quna can be exchanged |
| Storage | Only through Storage NPCs | Remote Storage, always available from your Cube |
| Wind Breeze Merchants | Only through Merchant NPCs | Open from the shop menu |
| Odyle Energy on reward Cubes | Injected once (Expedition and Transcendence) | Injected twice (Expedition, Transcendence and Sanctuary) |
| Odyle Energy capacity | Base capacity | Increased; NC has not said by how much |
Two NC texts disagree slightly here. The business model notice says an active membership is required to trade on the Market at all, while the later membership notice says a free account can still list items for sale and only buying is locked. The membership table is the more detailed of the two, which is why it is used above.
How far free goes
Kina, the currency the Market runs on, is earned by playing, and the Daeva Pass has a free standard track for every character. NC’s business model notice names no other paid gate on levelling, classes or dungeons. NC describes no way to earn Quna by playing: the only route it mentions from Kina to Quna is the exchange, and that needs a membership, whichever side of the trade you are on. How much that Kina-for-money route matters for power is weighed on is AION 2 pay to win, and how the two currencies work day to day is on Kina and Quna.
If you only want to try it, wait for 5 October and install it free; download and install covers both launchers.