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Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to the Xbox One for free next year

Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to the Xbox One for free next year

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Seven years after it was first released

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Phantasy Star Online 2, one of the most popular PC games, will be available stateside on the Xbox One in 2020. It will also be free, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced today.

Developer and publisher Sega first launched Phantasy Star Online 2 in 2012 in Japan. It was then ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2013, PlayStation 4 in 2016, and Nintendo Switch in 2018. The game has only been available to purchase in Japan, but conversations have been underway since 2017 to bring the game to Xbox players in the West, Spencer said.

Phantasy Star Online 2 players will become members of a “research expedition called ‘Arks,’ which belong to a fleet of interplanetary cruising ships, setting out to a research a variety of different planets,” according to a press release. “Visiting places for the mission (quest) always evolves into a fresh and surprising adventure, including auto-generated maps, sudden events, and a Multiplayer Party Area, where up to 12 players can play together simultaneously.”

A successor to the 2000 Sega Dreamcast title Phantasy Star Online, Phantasy Star Online 2 is a continuation of the online RPG that made the first game so popular when it was first released. Sega tweeted that unfortunately there is “nothing to confirm right now” regarding a release in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, adding “we understand it’s frustrating, but when we have more news to share, we will.”

Phantasy Star Online 2 will be available to play in Spring 2020.

Correction (June 9, 6:40 PM ET): The story has been corrected to include the full name of the game in the headline.