Skip to main content

Lost Ark loses over 300,000 players after "massive" ban wave - community celebrates

After the June 16 maintenance, Lost Ark has haemorrhaged its players. Or did it?

Over the past week, Lost Ark has lost roughly over 300,000 players according to Steamcharts and SteamDB. This hugely popular action MMORPG, which launched to ridiculous levels of success earlier this year, appears to have wiped out a significant number of players via a recent ban wave which resulted in the dramatic drop.

For those not in the know, the team at Amazon Game Studios have been battling an ongoing botting problem for some time now. Through multiple official blog posts coinciding with major updates, the topic of botting has been a near-constant presence, and the continuous cat and mouse chase between developers and cheaters has trucked along over several months.

Check out this video for one of the Lost Ark raids for a taste of endgame content!

It’s been a major issue too! Lost Ark, having already existed in Korea and Russia for some time prior to the western release, practically launched with a pre-existing botting ecosystem who had been sharpening their fangs on the aforementioned versions of the title. This botting problem has resulted in some frustrating side effects too, as a healthy real-money trading environment has been able to flourish thanks to the ample number of bots running around, farming content, and generating in-game wealth.

For those not sure why that’s a bad thing, bots farming resources and money 24/7 uncontested inject an inflated amount of currency into the game which players with a little bit of know-how can just buy. This inflated amount of gold in the economy leads to - you guessed it - inflation, which means Ted the construction worker coming home from a hard day at work will find useful materials drifting further and further outside his budget. Not necessarily a problem for those who can invest some extra time, or have no issues buying gold, but a rough situation for casual players and those morally against real money trading to find themselves in.

That’s not to say that the folk at Amazon Game Studios have been taking this lying down. According to prior reports from the publisher, anti-cheat software updates have continuously cut down the numbers of bots in waves. However, as is the nature of any anti-cheat vs cheater battle, the player population has historically bounced back in the wake of these ban waves as users have figured their way around the anti-cheat and redeployed whatever sketchy software they had on hand.

A stack of bots on horses in Lost Ark
Chances are if you've played Lost Ark, this is a familiar site (credit Nitoss of the Lost Ark Forums). | Image credit: Nitoss on the Lost Ark Forums

This ongoing botting problem has led some to speculate on the “real population” of Lost Ark, and while it’s obviously impossible to know for sure exact figures, shifts in overall player count such as the removal of an easily exploitable gold farming method seemingly cut a whopping 200,000 players off the top back in March. These occurrences have occasionally popped up as strong indicators of just how many bots were present behind the scenes. For the record, we’ll likely never find an exact number, as websites like the aforementioned Steamcharts and SteamDB while helpful aren’t official tracking websites and thus can be off the mark a little.

Fast forward to June 16, and it looks like both botters and real money traders have been hit hard. A day before, it was announced via Twitter as well as an official post on the Lost Ark forums that a "massive" ban wave will be coming alongside the scheduled update. They weren't kidding! This otherwise regular patch seems to have been packing some extra juice under the hood, resulting in a sharper drop than usual of players in the days following the patch. The number of concurrent players did initially reach roughly 550,000 immediately after, but began plummeting to around 200,000 over the weekend.

This resulted in two vastly different reactions from the two factions. On popular cheating forums and botting hubs, threads with users performing pseudo damage checks are easy to find, with posters reporting on what accounts of theirs received bans, the duration of these bans, and what services or in-game actions may have gotten them caught on Amazon’s radar.

Screenshot from cheating forum where discussion on bans is taking place.
On popular cheating forums, discussion regarding the recent ban wave and its impact is underway.

On the flip side of the coin, you have users on Reddit, Discord and other popular hangouts for legitimate Lost Ark play hyped about the purge, in what is probably the most triumphant celebration of player falloff you’ll see anytime soon. This came in the form of genuine disbelief at the impact, dunking on those caught at the sharp end of the bans, and memes.

But if we all drop our party poppers for a moment, as tempting as it is to break out the bubbly, is it too early to get excited? Maybe. It’s widely accepted that generally speaking first time offenders only receive a three day ban, likely a measure to both warn those being dodgy and not absolutely body regular players caught in the crossfire, which means a portion of accounts removed in the last few days may very well be back in operation. While they likely won’t be hopping back into the firing line, those who make a living developing and selling botting software are likely picking apart the recent update to find new ways around it.

That doesn’t mean it’s all for nothing though. As it becomes more frustrating to use bots in Lost Ark, while players who slam significant amounts of cash get their main accounts permanently banned for acquiring suspect amounts of in-game currency via real money trading, there are hopes that bad actors will move on to greener, less hazardous pastures. As fewer and fewer buyers hang around, it’s possible we’ll start to inch closer to that illustrious “real population” over time.

As for what this means for Lost Ark, all in all it’s good news for those who play the game. Even with the depleted figure, Lost Ark remains in the top five most played games on Steam right now, so anyone echoing chants of "dead game" remain dead wrong. Having such a large figure lopped off the concurrent player numbers certainly creates an initial shock, but think of it as a full-body detox. It’s a rough but temporary process which washes all the nastiness out. Sure, it’ll creep back over time, but continuous attempts to keep the junk at bay will only lead to a healthier game, a happier player base, and a better Lost Ark.


For more Lost Ark content, we have a nice seletion of guides on the site for players looking to jump in for the first time! If that sounds like you, check out our Lost Ark best classes tier list, as well as our build guide for the Glaivier!

Read this next

universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
soxtry.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
maw-pr.com
zaaksen.com
ypxsptbfd7.com
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
onlinenewsofindia.com
worldgraphic-team.com
bnsrz.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
webmanicura.com
osostore.com
softsmob.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
odskc.com
inzziln.info
leaiiln.info
cq-oa.com
dqtianshun.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
bartoysdirect.com
taquerialoscompadresdc.com
aaoodln.info
amcckln.info
drvrnln.info
dwabmln.info
fcsjoln.info
hlonxln.info
kcmeiln.info
kplrrln.info
fatcatoons.com
91guoys.com
signupforfreehosting.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
topsedu.xyz
xmxm7.com
x332.xyz
sportstrainingblog.com
autopartspares.com
readguy.net
soniasegreto.com
bobbygdavis.com
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
qazwsxedcokmijn.com
parabis.net
terriesandelin.com
luxuryhomme.com
studyexpanse.com
ronoom.com
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
snn01.com
hope-kelley.com
bancodeprofissionais.com
zjccp99.com
liturgycreator.com
weedsmj.com
majorelenco.com
colcollect.com
androidnews-jp.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
nova-click.com
abeautifulcrazylife.com
diggmobile.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
sizam-design.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
bamthemes.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com
avgo.top