Aion 2’s much-awaited worldwide release is days away, following its release in Korea and Taiwan roughly a year ago. Despite this, the MMO has soared – high up Steam’s most played game chart.

There are two charts that tell a story. The first is Aion 2 hitting the number-one spot on Steam’s Top Sellers list. While Aion 2 is generally a free-to-play game, you currently have to buy your way into early access via a one of a few founders’ packs. The cheapest of these packs is £18.49 and it comes with a stack of in-game cosmetics and consumables.

It’s through these founders’ packs that Aion has outsold other major recent releases. By revenue, Aion 2’s founders’ packs have made more than EA FC 27, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, and Gears of War: E-Day this week.

As for how many players are actually jumping into Aion 2 early, the Steam Most Played figures paint an interesting picture. As of writing, the game sits at the number nine spot, above Delta Force and Delta Lock, but not quite pushing past big-hitters like PUBG, Apex Legends, and recent multiplayer sensation Wardogs.

This is already an impressive position to be in, but it’s of course expected to climb the ranks further once the game becomes open to non-founders a few days from now – and as it becomes free to play.

What is the game like? It’s good! I’ve yet to put enough time into the game to warrant a proper piece of critique on Aion 2, but having messed around with the character creator I was able to make a tiny freaky man last night and thrust him through the main story. Being able to fly around, collect pets through killing enemies out in the world, and build up a character is a lot of fun.

The game is a typical MMORPG with some interesting twists and quirks that sets it apart from its peers. The combat lies between the traditional tab-target approach and a more action-oriented focus you’d see from Black Desert Online. There are plenty of collectables to gather, over 1,100 achievements to collect, and a mix of PvP and PvE events.

Eurogamer reviewed the original Aion in 2009, in which Oli Welsh came away impressed by what was an incredibly popular Korean MMO back in the day. With this game attempting to carry that legacy, forward, why not give it a read?