By Lost Ark is one of the most popular MMORPGs available right now. Even after 4 years of its release on Steam, the game continues to grow every month with thousands of active players.
Unfortunately, after all these years, Lost Ark is still blocked in many countries in the world. If you happen to live in any of the countries in Southeast Asia (SEA), or even Belgium, South Africa, or the Netherlands, you won’t be able to play the game.
This is due to a publishing agreement the developers have made with Amazon Games Studios, which is in charge of distributing the game globally. It sucks, and there’s no sign of Amazon making an exception and removing the region lock.
Thankfully, there’s a way to get past this region lock to play the game. In this guide, I’ll show you how to do just that.
What Is Lost Ark?
If you’re not familiar with the game, Lost Ark is a free-to-play MMORPG that features a Diablo-style top-down isometric view. But it has much deeper and more sophisticated gameplay mechanics.
The game features raids, dungeons, guilds, addictive loot mechanics, and tons of content for you to enjoy for hundreds of hours. On Steam alone, Lost Ark currently has over 14K active players.
Lost Ark was first launched in South Korea in 2019, followed by several other regions. But it took much longer for the game to arrive in the US and Europe regions. Amazon Games Studios then took the role of distributing the game in the US, Europe, and Oceania regions in 2022.
Amazon, however, did not make the game available in several regions in the world, including Southeast Asia, Belgium, South Africa, and the Netherlands. Mainly due to the gambling-style monetization mechanics in the game.
Luckily, there’s a way you can play the game if you reside in any of those restricted regions.
How To Play Lost Ark From A Region-Locked Country
To access Lost Ark from a restricted region, you need to follow a few simple steps.
Step 1: Create A US-Region Steam Profile
The first step is to create a new Steam profile in the US region.
To do this, you first need to install a VPN and connect to VPN servers in the United States.
After that, open Steam from your browser and create a new profile. During this profile creation process, make sure to set your region to the US.
Step 2: Add Lost Ark To Your Library
After creating the new Steam profile, login to your account.
Then search Lost Ark in the Steam store and add the game to your library.
Step 3: Install & Play Lost Ark
To install Lost Ark, you need to have Steam installed on your computer.
While your VPN is active and connected to a USA server, login to your new Steam account via the Steam desktop client.
Find Lost Ark in your game Library and install the game.
After the installation is complete, you can launch the game.
Is This Method Safe?
This is not an official method of playing the game. It’s a workaround for bypassing the region restriction.
As long as you don’t abuse or violate the terms of the game, you should be able to safely play the game. Many players in the SEA region use this method to play Lost Ark.
Since you are playing Lost Ark from a new Steam account, you won’t be putting your main account at risk.
Can You Buy In-Game Cash Shop Items?
Since you are using a Steam account registered in a different region, you won’t be able to buy any cash shop items in Lost Ark directly via Steam.
However, you can buy US region Steam credits from a third-party website and add money to your wallet to buy any of the items from the cash shop.
In Conclusion
Lost Ark is a super fun and addictive MMORPG that deserves a full release around the globe. I waited many years expecting it to officially release in the SEA region, but there’s no sign of it happening any time soon.
This workaround is the only way to play and experience Lost Ark in the restricted regions right now. If you decide to use this method to play the game, make sure not to spend too much money in the game and don’t violate the terms.
