Lost Ark is quickly establishing itself as one of Steam's most popular titles of 2022, but the game's complicated release structure has left many players wondering when the highly anticipated title will be fully released and when they'll be able to join the millions of others who have already begun exploring the game that has gotten so many people talking.
Lost Ark is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game with ARPG gameplay akin to Diablo that was first launched (in full) in South Korea in 2019. As a result of the game's PvP dynamics, large content offers, cinematic style, and all of the other MMO cliches that typically inspire individuals to spend a few hundred hours of their lives playing them, it swiftly gained a significant following in that region.
Consequently, while Lost Ark has been available in South Korea and other territories for quite some time, individuals who just pre-ordered any of the Lost Ark Founder's Pack on Steam were also able to begin playing the game on Monday, November 13(February 8).
The Founder's Pack for the MMO may be purchased on Steam, and you can begin playing the game immediately after purchasing it (each of which comes with a variety of in-game rewards as well as early access to the title).
What if you don't want to spend the money on a Lost Ark Founder's Pack and instead want to jump into the game as soon as it is released from Early Access and becomes a publicly available free-to-play title? What options do you have? The good news is that you'll soon have the opportunity to accomplish exactly that.
On February 11th, Lost Ark will be made available to the general public on the Steam platform as a free-to-play title. Founder's Pack owners will be able to launch the game immediately after pre-loading it (the game's download size checks in at approximately 70 GB), but everyone else will have to wait until the game has been fully unlocked before they can do so.
As for the release date, that's a little more difficult to predict. If everything goes according to plan, the free-to-play edition of Lost Ark will be available via Steam on February 11 at the following times:
9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time
The time is 12 pm eastern time (5:00 pm GMT; 6:00 pm Central European time).
For the reason that I use the word “ideally” when referring to the launch date of Lost Ark's free-to-play mode, it is because we have previously seen players struggle to join Lost Ark in time for its actual Early Access debut.
Because of overcrowding on the servers and a few technical difficulties, many fans were forced to wait at least a little longer before they could really begin playing the MMO. The fact that the game will be opened up to a considerably larger player population the next day means that you will most likely see similar server troubles at that time.
What about other platforms, such as social media? Although neither the game's developer, Smilegate, nor its Western publisher, Amazon Games, have announced any plans to port Lost Ark to other platforms such as the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, or the Epic Games store, it's not unreasonable to speculate that the title could one day be made available to an even larger audience through the Steam platform.
For the most part, players who are looking forward to jumping into Lost Ark when it becomes free-to-play on Friday should plan to begin playing the game right away. If you don't, there's a strong chance that you'll have to wait a bit longer before you can actually jump in.
Lost Ark Early Access Release Date and Time
For those of you who have a burning urge to play Lost Ark as soon as possible, there is a way to get your hands on it three days before the official release.
Despite the fact that Lost Ark is a free-to-play game, the developer is offering multiple “Founder's Edition” packs prior to the game's official release. These packs include a host of goodies, including both cosmetic and gameplay goods.
Among these benefits is a “head start” bonus, which will allow you to play the game three days before it is officially released on the official website.
In the event that you acquire one of the Founder's Editions, you will be able to play Lost Ark starting on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at 6 pm CET/5 pm GMT/12 noon ET/9 am PST, as long as you have purchased one of the Founder's Editions or above.
