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Phantasy Star Online 2 Launches in N. America on Xbox One Next Spring
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Microsoft revealed during its E3 press conference on Sunday that Sega will launch its Phantasy Star Online 2 game on Xbox One in North America in spring 2020. The game will be a free-to-play release with microtransactions.
The trailer above reports that the release will feature "online action combat with cross-play," but Sega did not indicate if or when the game will be available in North America on other platforms. Sega Europe added on Twitter that it cannot confirm a release in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa "right now."
Sega released the free-to-play Phantasy Star Online 2 role-playing game for Windows PC in Japan in 2012, followed by a PlayStation Vita release in 2013, and an Android and iOS release in April and May 2014, respectively. The game debuted on PlayStation 4 in April 2016. The game's "Episode 5" debuted in July 2017, and the game's "Episode 6" update debuted on April 24.
A cloud version of the game for Nintendo Switch titled Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud launched in April 2018, and then launched for PC on December 19.
The game previously inspired a television anime titled Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation. The anime features a completely original story. The 12-episode series premiered in January 2016, and Sentai Filmworks and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Sentai Filmworks released the series on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in March 2017.
More recently, the game's official Puso Ni Comi: Phantasy Star Online 2 Comic web manga inspired a series of web anime shorts that began streaming weekly on the Phantasy Star channels on YouTube and Niconico on January 8.
A new television anime adaptation of the game titled Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle will premiere this year.
Update: The official Phantasy Star Channel on YouTube posted the trailer that only listed Xbox One, but the version that played during Microsoft's Xbox E3 Briefing listed both Xbox One and Windows PC. Thanks, KariOhki and omegafinal.
Sources: Microsoft E3 press conference, Phantasy Star official YouTube channel, press release
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