I’m very happy to report that Sega has finally announced Phantasy Star Online 2 will be released in Europe and North America. I’m sure we all suspected it was only a matter of time but it’s always nice to know it’s official. 2013 though? That seems like a long, long way away. Then again I’ve waited over a decade for a true sequal to PSO I suppose I can wait another six months.
I only hope that by the time it releases in the west it has all of the updates the Japanese version will have received in the meantime and all available from the start. I really hope there isn’t a repeat of Phantasy Star Universe where the Japanese were always far ahead when it came to updates.
Hit the jump for the press release.
Ad:SEGA ANNOUNCES THE WESTERN RELEASE OF PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 SEGA’s Epic Free-to-Play Multiplayer Action RPG Coming to North America and Europe in Early 2013
SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON – July 9th, 2012 – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd today announced that free-to-play multiplayer action RPG Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming to North America and Europe in 2013. For a first look at this new entry in the legendary Phantasy Star series, check out the official Phantasy Star Online 2 teaser site at www.pso2.com.
“Phantasy Star Online was a revolutionary game when it was released, and we want to make sure that its successor in the series is every bit as ambitious,” said Chris Olson, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “We look forward to introducing Phantasy Star Online 2’s unique, easy-to-access multiplayer action to the rest of the world next year!”
“The number one thing we want to provide players in Phantasy Star Online 2 is an adventure that changes every time they log in. Just as great table-top RPG experiences revolve around imaginative and unexpected encounters, we want players to consistently be surprised as they explore dungeons and undertake quests,” added Satoshi Sakai, Phantasy Star Online 2 Producer at SEGA of Japan.
Over ten years have passed since the release of the boundary-breaking Dreamcast hit, Phantasy Star Online, and SEGA is poised to continue the Phantasy Star series’ multiplayer legacy on PCs worldwide with Phantasy Star Online 2. In the Year 238, the New Era of Light, players will join a new band of Arcs in the fight against mysterious D-Arkers, embarking on another epic adventure of infinite possibilities!
Phantasy Star Online 2’s features include:
Deep sci-fi fantasy universe filled with lush landscapes, extraordinary creatures, and epic adventures
Revolutionary real-time combat and third-person action with devastating combos and counters to master
Flexible, class-based leveling system that lets players define their own play-style with distinctive melee, ranged, and magic weapon types
Randomized dungeon maps and unexpected mid-quest encounters that ensure each quest is different for each player
Deep character creation system with a nearly limitless number of potential appearances
Three degrees of humanity to experience across three unique races: the versatile Humans, spiritually-powered Newmen, and artificial CASTFor more information about Phantasy Star Online 2, visit the official site at www.pso2.com.
For more news, follow SEGA on Twitter @SEGA (http://twitter.com/phantasystar) or “like” us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sega.pso2).
“What on earth will I do in the mean time?!”
Play the Japanese release, duh.
There’s quite a few non-Japanese players in PSO2 already, I wonder if they’ll allow account transfers from JP servers to US/EU ones, I doubt many people will bother recreating their characters, unless they’ve already reached the level cap on every class and have nothing better to do. Or if they’ll allow me to buy Arks Cash for european currency and apply it to my Japanese account… big mistake on Sega’s part to delay the release this much. There’s some other giant MMOs coming out in late 2012 and 2013, the only people who are going to play non-Japanese PSO2 are lost sheep and Phantasy Star fans who couldn’t get past the language barrier, everyone else is already playing the Japanese version…
I don’t want to burn out on the Japanese version. I want the experience i can understand right from the get go so I can appriciate the game 100%.
If history repeats itself, you won’t get to enjoy 100% of the game in the english version though. It’s possible that when it releases in 2013, it might just have the content the Japanese version has now, and the updates afterwards might come at a slower pace than they did for the Japanese version.
Hopefully this won’t happen, but with the english version coming only next year, there’s not much hope they will be able to keep a steady update schedule.
First off, stop complaining for a game that will be FREE-TO-PLAY. Second, this game with no updates already has A LOT OF CONTENT. Third, because it is free-to-play, it’s up to us to show to them it’s worth updating by purchasing things like Arks Cash and such. Very, very happy for this news.
This is bigger than NiGHTS’s re-release, to me at least.
Actually the game is really hurting in terms of content. If they released the game as it is in America right now it would be torn apart by critics. This coming from someone who plays the game almost every day. So far we have 4 fields, 4 or 5 midbosses, and 2 real bosses. 2 bosses! Come on sega!
So hopefully by spring 2013 there will be a full game in place.
I haven’t reached the frozen tundra yet, but I think the wolves are actual bosses.
Yeah I wasn’t sure. I haven’t gotten there either. Why did they make it so hard to get to??
No idea, at the very least the the frozen tundra area should have been available in the normal mode as well, it would fit perfectly in the lvl 20~25 gap that exists now.
I’m more interested in Sega’s new game called. “Let’s put everything out in early 2013!”
Yeaaaah! I can wait until 2013 to play this game in a language I entirely understand. Glad they finally announced it and the trembling is over. ^^