Tomorrow, SEGA Games will give North American gamers their first glimpse of Phantasy Star Online 2, the long awaited free-to-play sci-fi action MMORPG from Japan — which had previously gone missing, reported dead, and totally forgotten about in the West. Closed beta testing begins on Xbox One on Friday, February 7th (5:00pm PST) and runs through February 8th at (11:59pm PST).

7 Years to Cross the Pacific

Phantasy Star Online 2 was initially due for PC release in the West when it was announced almost a decade ago. On July 9, 2012 SEGA announced plans to release the game in the west as early as 2013, and English players were given a teaser of an English version of the game during the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington on August 31, 2012. However, the game was delayed until further notice, and that notice never came.

On June 9th 2019, a North American release was announced at Microsoft’s E3 press conference for the Spring of 2020, with no current plans for a release in Europe, Middle East and Africa however. The game is now entering Closed Beta and is now just weeks before release, and it is expected to feature cross-play between Xbox One and PC systems.

“We are thrilled to kick off the first live testing of the game this weekend,” said Fred White, PSO2 TEAM North America’s Head of Marketing. “The teams have been working hard getting ready and while there is still work to be done before launch, we are anxious to get some early player response as well as test out the new servers.”

This will be the first opportunity for gamers to play the English version of the game, which begins its journey on the Xbox Insider Program. “Many multiplayer constructs came from the original Phantasy Star Online,” said Phil Spencer, Executive Vice President, Gaming at Microsoft. “Glad to see the sequel landing on Xbox One and PC!”

Closed Beta Sign Up Facts

Players based in North America only can sign up for the closed beta test for Xbox One and download the game now for free. Details can be found at www.pso2.com. For additional details and updates, players can follow @play_PSO2 and @XboxInsider on Twitter.
Closed beta testing begins on Xbox One on Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm PST and runs through Saturday, February 8th at 11:59pm PST.
It is unknown at this stage whether Phantasy Star Online 2 will be released in other regions in the near future.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Sign Up Instructions

• 1. GET THE XBOX INSIDER HUB APP
  Go to the Store tab on the Xbox dashboard or select STORE
  Choose SEARCH
  Enter “insider” in the box, then select XBOX INSIDER HUB
  Select GET or INSTALL
• 2. OPEN THE XBOX INSIDER HUB
  Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide
  Select MY GAMES & APPS
  Select SEE ALL
  From Apps, open XBOX INSIDER HUB to be automatically enrolled
  Find Phantasy Star Online 2 under GAMES and click JOIN
• 3. FINISHED!