Phantasy Star Online 2 Is Finally Launching for PC in North America Next Week

Phantasy Star Online 2 Is Finally Launching for PC in North America Next Week

The wait is very nearly over.

News by Mathew Olson, Reporter

If you're a PC player who has been waiting to get your hands on Phantasy Star Online 2 for the better part of a decade, then perhaps the past few months watching your Xbox-playing compatriots in North America has tested your patience that much more. Next week, the wait on PC will finally end when Phantasy Star Online 2 launches there on May 27.

Here's what you need to know about Phantasy Star Online 2's impending PC release: it'll be free-to-play (just as it is on Xbox One), available for download via the Microsoft store, and it'll have cross-platform play with Xbox players right out the gate.

Sega promises to release more details in the coming week, but for now it seems Phantasy Star Online 2 will only release on PC via the Microsoft Store. Earlier this year, players noticed that a Steam release was mentioned in a version of the manual that's no longer accessible through the official site.

Still, in the long run, a wider PC release doesn't seem completely out of the question. Last year, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said that Phantasy Star Online 2 would make its way to all platforms, so it seems this Microsoft-only relationship has a timer on it. In Japan, Phantasy Star Online 2 is also available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

While Reviews Editor Mike Williams came away from his time with Phantasy Star Online 2's closed beta wondering if it's time for a proper sequel to the aging title, it seems like new players on Xbox One and PC can expect a decent cadence of updates for a while to come. Right now, the big deal is a crossover event featuring Hatsune Miku. Sadly, it seems the in-game concert schedule is set to end just before PC players get a crack at the game.

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Mathew Olson

Reporter

Mathew Olson is a writer formerly of Digg, where he blogged and reported about all things under the umbrella of internet culture (including games, of course). He lives in New York, grew up under rain clouds and the influence of numerous games studios in the Pacific Northwest, and will talk your ear off about Half-Life mods, Talking Heads or Twin Peaks if you let him.

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