‘Phantasy Star Online 2’ releasing on PS4 in the West after decade-long delay

Phantasy Star Online 2 will be released on PlayStation 4 in the West, several years after every other iteration of the game arrived there.

The Japanese Action RPG was released back in 2012 on PC in Japan. A PlayStation 4 version was released four years later in 2016, once again only in Japan. An updated version of the game called Phantasy Star 2: New Genesis was released on June 9, 2021 for Windows and Xbox One in the West.

One year after its release on other platforms, Sega will finally be bringing the game to PlayStation 4 in the West. This version of Phantasy Star 2 is slated for an August 31 release. The PlayStation 4 version will be cross-platform compatible with the PC and Xbox One versions of the game as well.

The New Genesis version of the game is very different to the original, but the developers didn’t want to split the player base or cut off support for current players so they held off on dubbing it Phantasy Star Online 3 (via Siliconera).

New Genesis is set 1,000 years after the original and contains a more robust character creation system and an improved combat system. One of the biggest additions was a new open battlefield system with changing weather.

Bringing Phantasy Star Online 2 to Western markets has been a challenging path for Sega. There were plans for a Western release dating back to 2013 (via Polygon) but indefinite delays halted the release.

Phantasy Star Online 2 will be released on PlayStation 4 in the West on August 31.

In other news, during Nintendo’s 2022 annual general meeting, a shareholder asked about the company’s future business dealings with Russia amidst the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. Nintendo responded by saying the halting of company dealings in Russia has had a “negligible effect” on Nintendo’s financial situation.