Sega’s online RPG now available through a store that functions as advertised
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When we first heard the news that after many years of being a Japan-only release, Phantasy Star Online 2 would be getting an international release, it was a cause for celebration. Fans of the series would finally get a chance to play the sequel without having to jump through hoops to get the game installed, and the game would be localized into English so you could actually understand the in-game text.
Sadly though, there was a fly in the ointment, with the game launching as a Windows App Store exclusive. The Windows App Store barely functions at the best of times, but when paired with a game that is managed by its own standalone launcher, it was a recipe for disaster, with many players having to resort to using community-managed custom launchers just to get the game to boot. This was particularly irritating because the exclusivity to the Windows App Store kind of goes against much of the open and flexible messaging Microsoft has been putting out in recent times. Microsoft’s own games release on Steam too these days, so it’s not exactly clear why they were negotiating deals with Sega to keep their games off Steam, at least temporarily.
As of today, we can forget about all that drama, because Phantasy Star Online 2 is now available on Steam. It’s a free-to-play game, with a bunch of premium DLC and options for in-game currency available. Hopefully, the widespread issues related to the Windows App Store version should be a thing of the past now, and that barrier to playing and enjoying the game can be forgotten.
Phantasy Star Online 2 has now been made available in a whole host of other regions now too, this marking the first time the game has been officially available in Europe. The full list of countries this Steam release is available on is as follows:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Great Britain, United States.
