As NCsoft prepares to launch Aion in North America on September 22 and Europe come September 25, the company has detailed the means by which players can get an early playable glimpse of the PC MMORPG and its persistent fantasy world of Atreia. An open beta will run from September 6 though 13, during which players will be unable to progress past level 30. This will allow "players to focus on getting to the same level so they can explore the lands of Atreia together," explained NCsoft.

Additionally, those that pre-order the game from participating retailers will be able to "Pre-Select" their character name and server on September 18, with pre-ordering folk also getting early access to the fresh servers, and thus a headstart, on September 20.

Cryptic Studio's superhero MMO Champions Online and NCSoft's fantasy MMORPG Aion have both gone gold, threatening to crush the social lives of gamers everywhere.

Champions Online is slated for release on September 1, with a limited open beta beginning today, while the CryEngine-powered Aion is due to arrive on September 22.

NCSoft hopes Aion will not only take second place in the MMO world behind World of Warcraft, but "Erase the memory" of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, which it published.

Cryptic recently unveiled two Champions Online subscription offers with the perk of access to the Star Trek Online closed beta, including a hefty $200 lifetime subscription.

MMO-focused publisher NCsoft today reported a profit of $27 million in its last quarter, largely due to the worldwide performance of its latest MMO, Aion.

The publisher plans for Aion to eventually take second place in the MMO race behind World of Warcraft. The game is already recording strong preorder sales in advance of its North American release on September 22.

NCsoft CFO Jaeho Lee said it was likely that the poor performance of Tabula has made retailers "reluctant" to stock Aion. In facing a question of comparison between the two titles, Lee was quick to show his contempt for Richard Garriott's Tabula, which shut down earlier this year after only 16 months of operation.

As Gamasutra put it:

"Ok, um, it's very unfortunate to hear the name of Tabula Rasa at this conference call," Lee said above the nervous chuckle of the analyst. "And we all want to forget and erase that memory from our performance."

The North American launch of NCsoft's latest Korean MMO, Aion: The Tower of Eternity, will take place on September 22, the company announced today. The game will ship to European stores on September 25.

In addition to its retail release, the fantastical title will also be available for digital download on Steam, Direct2Drive, and NCsoft.com.

As a reminder, those that preorder the game from participating retailers--GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, et al--are granted access to all pre-launch beta events and a head-start on the launch.

NCsoft's CryEngine-powered MMO Aion: Tower of Eternity is shown off in this brief trailer, highlighting the Poeta zone of the heavenly Elysea region.

Poeta is "home to farmers and villagers who attempt to live in peace," according to NCsoft. Of course, this is a video game, so a "violent species of sentient humanoids" has to spoil the party.

The Korean MMO is scheduled for a fall release in Western territories.

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NCsoft's new CryENGINE-powered MMO probably doesn't innovate enough to interest anyone not already endeared to massively multiplayer gameplay. For those into that kind of thing, however, it's looking to be a piece of cake--familiar enough to immediately pick up, and sugary sweet in every sense. Check it out.

As is often the case with certain games, none of the screenshots have accurately captured what Aion looks like in motion. One civilization's capital city hovered in the air like an uprooted potato, whisps of cloud encircling its exposed roots and furling around the edges of the rocky mass. There wasn't much bloom at work, and yet every tree and mountainside popped with an aural permeance, leaving a room of jaded journalists looking pleasantly surprised. Read more...