Release of Aion

South Korea: Aion was released in South Korea on November 28, 2008, making this the first country to get a final release of the game. Given the success of NCsoft's previous games, Lineage and Lineage II, Aion had been a highly anticipated game in South Korea ever since its announcement.
China: The game was released in China on April 16, 2009 and operated by Shanda Interactive Entertainment.
Japan: NCSoft released the game on July 17 2009 in Japan under NCSoft Japan. As of February 2, 2010, Pixiv collaborated with NCsoft for a special fan art contest.
Australia: NCsoft is distributing Aion in Australia through QV Software, and was released on September 22, 2009. In Australia, 3 editions were released: Collectors Edition, Limited Edition, and the Standard Edition.The game is also being distributed via Valve Software's digital distribution platform, Steam, within this region.
Taiwan: NCsoft began an open beta of Aion in Taiwan on June 7, 2009, and was released on July 21, 2009. v1.5 was released on October 21, 2009
Europe: NCsoft released the final version of Aion in Europe on September 25, 2009. In Europe, Aion was available in two editions: Standard Edition and Collectors Edition. The latter includes many in-game items, figurines, posters, and the Official Aion Soundtrack CD by composer Yang Bang-Ean (known as Ryo Kunihiko in Japan).
North America: Aion was released in North America on September 22, 2009. The release was accompanied by a free comic book from Wildstorm, Aiva's Story by writers David Noonan and Ricardo Sanchez, with art by Neil Googe for those who preordered. Also for those who preordered gained a 3 day head start before launch. Aion was in available in two editions: Standard Edition and Collectors Edition. The latter includes many in-game items, figurines, posters, and the Official Aion Soundtrack CD by composer Yang Bang-Ean (known as Ryo Kunihiko in Japan). The Game was made available through Retailers for DVD purchase, and Via download from NCsoft, Steam, Gamestop's website, File Planet and Direct2Drive.
Russia: Aion open beta running since December 8, 2009.In Russia, Aion is supposed to use a mixed payment model with monthly subscription and additional payments for in-game items and benefits.

Development of Aion

Aion was first announced and previewed at the May 2006 E3 Expo. It was developed at NCSoft's software design studio in South Korea. The Korean closed beta test began in late 2007,followed by an open beta test in November 2008. A localized Chinese version began closed beta testing in December 2008, with open testing beginning on April 8, 2009.

The game was then localized for Western markets, including North America, Europe, and Australia. NCSoft held six weekend long closed beta tests for North American and European players beginning in June, 2009. An open beta began in September, 2009. During the course of this open beta, the anti-cheat program GameGuard was removed. GameGuard is used in many Asian-market games to stop botting and cheating, but was abandoned for Western markets due to a range of issues experienced during the open beta. GameGuard is still used in the Asian markets.

NCSoft has announced plans for a major update in 2010, including an overhaul of the current CryEngine graphics engine CryEngine X1.9.