ArcheAge Chronicles Demo: Next Fest Dates, Servers and What's In It

When is the demo live?

Next Fest October 2026 ran the week of October 19. In Korean time the demo covered October 20 through 27, which is the same window as the Pacific-time dates above. For everything past the demo, see Early Access plans.

Who can play, and where are the servers?

• Free on Steam (app 5280930), no separate sign-up; a Steam account is enough, per XLGAMES' October 8 press release.
• Available worldwide with no regional restrictions — a change from the first network test, which was limited to North America.
• Server regions: North America East and West, Europe Central, Asia East and Asia South.
• Demo languages: English, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
• Windows only, matching the full game's Steam listing.

What is in the demo?

Producer Ham's October 18 letter says the demo builds on the earlier network test and adds two new pieces of content:

• Roughly 2–3 hours of quest content.
• Throne of Hinnon: a high-level dungeon outside normal quest progression, with its key deliberately hidden.
• A PvP channel unlocked much earlier than normal, at the Nui Statue after the first town.

What changed since the network test?

• Voice-over and facial animation, both missing from the network test build, are fully implemented.
• Audio polish: less repetitive combat sound effects, more depth overall.
• Party play: quest sharing for party members and better logic for joining the same channel.
• Clearer paths and clues in Points of Interest and dungeons, plus a guide explaining how hints are displayed.
• Lowered PvP entry requirements so more players can try it during the demo.
• Fixes for ladder collisions, attack hit detection, missing translations and shimmering visual effects.

Does demo progress carry into Early Access?

Not confirmed either way. The producer letter does not address progress carry-over, and the Steam demo listing does not mention it. Treat demo progress as temporary until XLGAMES states otherwise on the Steam page or in the official FAQ.

Announced but not in the demo

• Additional gender options for classes: development is underway and will roll out gradually after the demo, starting with select classes.
• A third weapon for each class, planned during Early Access.
• More Auroria regions beyond the three named for Early Access — see regions of Auroria.

Live Steam data

The Steam widget below opens the store page for wishlisting. While the demo window is active, a SteamDB chart of the demo app's concurrent players appears under it.