Lost Ark review

This Lost Ark review is based on official sources and player reviews, not on our own play time. Smilegate RPG's isometric action MMORPG is free on Steam for Windows only. Amazon Game Studios has published it in the West since 2022, but it will end that operation in early 2027 and hand the game to Smilegate; the game itself is not closing. Money buys Royal Crystals, Crystalline Aura and T4 Founder's Packs.

What is Lost Ark?

Lost Ark is a free-to-play isometric action MMORPG developed by Smilegate RPG. In the West it launched on Steam on February 11, 2022, published by Amazon Game Studios.

You pick a class and an advanced class, customize skills through the Tripod system and travel across the continents and seas of Arkesia. Content includes quests, Chaos Dungeons, Guardian Raids, Abyssal Dungeons, raids and PvP in the Proving Grounds. Cards add bonus stats and extra damage against certain enemy types; the official guide counts more than 900 of them.

The October 2026 update, Arbiter of Death, went live on October 21. It added Belgardin, an eight-player Shadow Raid in Normal, Hard and Nightmare difficulty, and Vambraces, a new equipment slot that grants Attack Power and Defense. New stages of Chaos Rift, Guardian's Shade and Haal's Hourglass expanded the Tier 4 endgame.

Lost Ark in the West: Amazon hands over to Smilegate in 2027

On August 12, 2026, Amazon announced that Amazon Game Studios will end its live service operation of Lost Ark in the West in early 2027 and that Smilegate, the developer, will take over. The official FAQ says plainly that Lost Ark is not ending. Until the handover, Amazon keeps running updates, events and support.

Characters, progress, inventory, purchases and wallet balances, including Royal Crystals, transfer to Smilegate unless you opt out before the transition date; opting out means starting fresh. After the switch, you link your Steam account to Smilegate in a first-login flow, and Smilegate becomes the publisher, store operator and support provider under new Terms of Service. In-game mail does not transfer, so claim mail items before the date.

Some offers are already winding down. Crystalline Aura subscriptions, T4 Founder's Packs and the Abyssal Support Pack were set to leave Steam on August 26, the 12-month Crystalline Plus was pulled, and Spanish language support ended with the October 2026 update.

Is Lost Ark free to play?

Yes. Lost Ark is free to download and play on Steam, which lists it as Free To Play with in-app purchases. The official FAQ says some items can be bought only with Royal Crystals, which cost real money, while others use Crystals or Gold, which you can earn in play or get through the Currency Exchange.

Free progression covers the main content: quests, dungeons, Guardian Raids, raids and events. The Arktober event (October 21 to November 18, 2026), for example, gives tokens from Chaos Dungeons and Guardian Raids that buy growth materials, Astrogems, engraving recipes and card packs. The Belgardin Conquest event (October 21 to December 2, 2026) grants honing and material chests for raid clears. The Ark Pass has a free track, and official Ark Pass posts describe Premium and Super Premium tracks bought with Royal Crystals.

Per the transition FAQ, Royal Crystal purchases and the Currency Exchange will be switched off closer to the 2027 handover, on dates still to be announced.

Is Lost Ark pay to win? What money buys

Royal Crystals are the paid currency and buy items in the in-game shop. T4 Founder's Packs, in Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers, bundle Royal Crystals, Crystals, days of Crystalline Aura Plus, honing materials, honing selection chests and card packs; the Platinum pack also adds a skin, a pet and a wagon. Card packs are random, and cards raise stats and damage.

Crystalline Aura gives convenience bonuses such as free Triport travel and 10% shorter Stronghold research, crafting and dispatch times. Crystalline Aura Plus adds +10% Combat and Roster XP, extra Stronghold slots and, with a subscription, feast coupons that grant buffs such as Weapon Power +1600.

Amazon publishes an odds page for random items, linked from the shop and the game; for example, a Legendary - Rare Card Pack IV gives a Legendary pack 4% of the time. In the Proving Grounds, Lost Ark's PvP mode, the official release notes say a Book of Coordination sets the stats, weapon damage, HP and skill points, and Hyper Awakenings cannot be used there. So paid upgrades count against the game's raids and bosses, not against other players.

Based on what the official stores sell, we rate it as mildly pay to win; we will check this again when we play it ourselves.

Lost Ark on PC, Mac, consoles and mobile

Lost Ark is a PC game only. The official FAQ says so directly, and Steam lists Windows as the only platform. There is no Mac, console or mobile version from Amazon or Smilegate in the West, so a Lost Ark for Xbox, PS5 or phones does not exist.

You download it through Steam and need a Steam account to launch it; an Amazon account is optional and is used for the forums, Prime Gaming offers and support. The FAQ lists the United States among supported countries and names four server regions: North America East, North America West, Central Europe and Latin America. Voice and text chat are built in, and an internet connection is required.

Since the October 2026 update the Western version is English-only, and a free Korean voice-over pack is on Steam. The transition FAQ says Lost Ark stays on Steam after the 2027 handover with no reinstall or repurchase, only a normal client update.

Lost Ark system requirements

Steam lists higher requirements than the older figures in the official FAQ, so the Steam numbers are the safer guide.

Minimum: 64-bit Windows 10, an Intel Core i3-10100 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100, 16 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 560, DirectX 11, 110 GB of storage and a broadband connection.

Recommended, for 1080p: 64-bit Windows 11, an Intel Core i5-9400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 16 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super or AMD Radeon RX 6600 and 110 GB of storage.

The official FAQ still lists a lower minimum of 8 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 460 and 100 GB of disk space, and recommends an SSD. Steam adds that the requirements may change over time.

Games like Lost Ark

These online RPGs from our catalog are also free to play:

Drakensang Online: Bigpoint's action MMORPG, the same genre as Lost Ark, on Steam for Windows since May 16, 2023.

Lineage II: NCSOFT's MMORPG, whose North American Live servers install through the PURPLE launcher on Windows; a new Live server opened on September 15, 2026.

Where Winds Meet: Everstone Studio's open-world action RPG, published by NetEase, with a single-player story, online co-op for up to four friends, guilds, guild wars, dungeons, raids and PvP duels; on Windows, iOS and Android.

Unlike Lost Ark, Where Winds Meet also runs on phones, while Drakensang Online and Lineage II are Windows games like Lost Ark.

• Drakensang Online
• Lineage 2
• Where Winds Meet