AION 2 Console Version Is in the Works, DLSS 5 Too — NC's Gamescom 2026 Q&A

On September 7, 2026, Wccftech published a transcript of a Q&A held with the AION 2 team at gamescom 2026, following NC's presentation of the game. Asked about a potential console version, Game Director Namjoon Kim said: "As a matter of fact, we're preparing a console launch as well. But our priority is the global launch first, and console support will follow after that." That is the first on-the-record statement from NC's global team that a console version exists as a project, rather than a possibility — and it comes less than a month before the October 5 global PC launch.

What NC did not say matters as much. No platform was named (PlayStation, Xbox or otherwise), no window or year was given, and no pricing or business-model detail was offered. Mein-MMO's August 21 platform explainer had already noted NC referenced a console port in a Japanese interview in July, where the question was specifically about PlayStation 5, and reported there was no release timeframe. As of September 8, 2026, that is still the case: the console version is confirmed to be in preparation, and nothing else about it is.

On cross-play between PC and console, Kim was explicit that no decision has been made: "We haven't made a clear decision, but we think that for now cross-play probably won't be supported between PC and console, because the usage and the gameplay are different, and the timing of the launch is different for PC and console. It's not confirmed yet, but for now we think it's probably going to be a separate operation." Treat "probably not" as NC's current leaning, not a policy.

AION 2 shipped in Korea and Taiwan on both PC and mobile. Asked whether the mobile version would follow to the West, Executive Publishing Producer Merv Lee Kwai answered: "For the global version, it's only on PC," and, pressed on whether mobile was undecided or ruled out, "Sadly, there are no plans for the mobile version." That closes a question our release-date guide had listed as open since June. Controller support, by contrast, was confirmed without qualification ("Absolutely, controllers are supported"), which is consistent with the Korean and Taiwanese PC builds.

On graphics technology, Kim confirmed that NVIDIA DLSS 5 — AION 2 was among the games named in NVIDIA's original DLSS 5 announcement — is still coming: "We're already working on it. DLSS 4.5 is already live in AION 2. As for DLSS 5, we're preparing it and working together with NVIDIA." No date was given for DLSS 5. The DLSS 4.5 confirmation for the global launch build from NVIDIA's gamescom article and NC's September 2 trailer stands as the shipping feature; DLSS 5 is a post-launch addition with no timing attached.

The Q&A also put numbers and structure on the content gap between regions. Lee Kwai said the global version "will launch with Season 1, the same season Korea and Taiwan originally released with, but a modified version of it, including the quality of life improvements and balance improvements" made over the Korean service's first year. NC then has "about a year's worth of content" in reserve — the Season 2 update and Chapter 1: Land of Sand and Frost among it — and will "follow the Korean model closely," where a new season arrives roughly every three months, adjusted using live data on how quickly global players progress.

Asked directly whether global would catch up to Korea, Lee Kwai said day-and-date parity would be "very challenging" because of localization, and that "in general, we're going to be behind Korea by some amount of time, but I don't know exactly how much yet. It could be faster, it could be slower." So the operating assumption is a lagging cadence with no fixed offset.

Kim described three changes made since the Korean launch that carry into the global build: item progression smoothed so accumulated progress is not lost between tiers; a large set of quality-of-life features; and a deliberate reduction of daily and weekly content — "there's no daily or weekly content gate," in his words. He also said NC has seen the same shift toward PvE-oriented players in Korea that Western players are assumed to prefer, and that the direction is to stop "forcing people into PvP who don't want it," with participation left to player choice.

Andrew Long added that the global team will emulate the Korean team's weekly livestreams as a feedback channel, and cited two changes already driven by player requests: consolidating the original dual subscription into a single $15 Membership, and adding Membership to the Founder's Packs after criticism that it was missing.

The presentation preceding the Q&A, as reported by Wccftech, gave a few figures NC has not published elsewhere in English: over 200 character-customization options, over 800 wardrobe clothing pieces unlockable through exploration and questing (a full transmog system over worn gear, with weapon skins handled the same way), and over 200 collectable pets that double as mounts and can be ridden inside dungeons. On wings, NC stated that only wings earned through gameplay carry flight power (the stamina that governs airtime); purchased wing items are cosmetic and sit in a separate skin slot over an earned set.

NC also walked through the PvE tiers the global build ships with: solo Nightmare Dungeons built around a single boss whose mechanics preview later group content; five-player Expeditions with no class requirement when queuing; and the ten-player Sanctuary raid, structured as two five-player teams that fight a mini-boss together, split to separate bosses, and reconvene for the finale. These match the party sizes NC set in its August 7 livestream (dungeon parties of five, first raid of ten). Aerial combat was shown in both PvE and PvP. As a reminder, the free Launch Scale Test on September 17-18 is the first chance to try any of this outside Korea and Taiwan.