Today marks the release of Aion in retailers across Europe, just three days after the game launched in North America. As we've reported, Aion has earned the bragging rights of having the biggest MMO launch of the year by selling nearly 450,000 pre-orders.

If you're in Europe and wondering where you can pick up or download the celestial MMO, check out the Aion Web site for a list of retailers. Also, all players are welcome to visit our new Aion portal to find information through our wiki and discuss the game in our forum.

The full announcement regarding the launch of Aion in Europe can be found after the jump.

BRIGHTON, United Kingdom - 25. September, 2009 – NCsoft®, the world's premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), today released, Aion®, its highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game in retailers across Europe. The entertainment phenomenon that has taken Asia by storm and has wowed hundreds of thousands of beta testers in Europe and North America has finally arrived.

Having sold out of its Limited Collector’s Edition version and tallying more pre-orders than any other MMO game this year, Aion’s release marks the biggest MMO launch of the year and is already being touted as one of the must-have games for the coming Christmas period. Aion also released in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore this week.

In Aion, gamers explore a celestial world of breath-taking beauty and epic adventure. Players create either winged Elyos or Asmodian avatars, sworn enemy races that discover a common foe: the twisted and depraved Balaur. Aion is among the biggest MMO games in the East and has wowed millions of gamers with its breathtaking graphics, innovative gameplay and engrossing story.

“We’re extremely excited to finally deliver the game to Western audiences and believe they will enjoy Aion as much as Eastern players have,” said Jaeho Lee, CEO NCsoft West. “The effort we put into Westernising Aion is unprecedented in our industry. Players will experience a completely rewritten storyline spanning more than two-million words, along with a variety of enhancements specifically for Western audiences.”

Consumer excitement for Aion has been steadily building in the recent months leading up to the game’s launch. Aion’s preorder sales have exceeded expectations, and the game has remained ranked among the top games on both Steam and Direct to Drive throughout the preorder period. Having sold nearly 450,000 copies before launch, Aion has established the benchmark as the biggest MMO release of the year. Aion is available at key retailers across Europe, please visit the official ‘Where to Buy’ page for a complete list at www.aiononline.com/retail/.