The massive launch of Lost Ark this past weekend shuffled Steam’s records and blasted past New World’s peak concurrency as the game met a concurrency peak of 1,325,305. That puts Lost Ark at second for all-time peak concurrency on Steam – and at the top of the charts (by a lot) for concurrency in the last 24 hours.
Unfortunately, the influx of free players meant queue times were through the roof over the weekend, particularly in Europe. The good news is that Amazon and Smilegate are working on the problem. The bad news is it’s not ready yet, and the fix involves creating a whole new region that hasn’t got crossplay with the servers you’re already on, and since you can claim your rewards only once, the new region is largely meant for new players.
“We’re blown away by the number of players that have joined us in Lost Ark since our launch on Friday. Arkesia is filled to the brim with eager players, so we’re working as quickly as possible to set up an entirely new region of servers in Europe. Due to the game’s architecture this is the only way to accommodate more players in Europe so it’s a joint effort between Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG. Rest assured we are working 24/7 until it’s live. […] Please note that this will be a distinct new region (separated from Central Europe) without cross-region play availability. This also means that region-wide features, such as your Royal Crystal and Silver balances from Central Europe will not be accessible in the new European region.”
Do make sure you log in at least once before March 1st to collect your launch gifts.
Meanwhile, if you’re in Belgium or the Netherlands, you’re still unable to play the game unless you’re willing to muck around with VPNs or gift copies on Steam. “We are unable to publish Lost Ark in the Netherlands/Belgium due to regulations regarding paid items containing RNG rewards,” Amazon tweeted, referring to the countries’ gambling statutes pertaining to lockboxes.
We’re working as quickly as possible to set up an entirely new region of servers in Europe. We understand lengthy queue times may persist and will need time to help accommodate all players to get in game.
Read for details.https://t.co/fOMz2rPyiw pic.twitter.com/s2fUKrWxbT
— Lost Ark (@playlostark) February 13, 2022
