Today marks the release of the popular MMORPG, Phantasy Star Online 2, on Steam. This follows the release of an official, English version of the game a few months ago; the Steam release gives access to 33 new countries, including the UK, Australia, and most of Europe.
Phantasy Star Online 2 (alternatively known as PSO2) is a third-person, sci-fantasy title, where players working for the ARKs initiative go to various planets to try to root out a malicious evil presence known as Falspawn.
The Steam release comes with various Valve-themed emotes, skins, and weapon camos, given freely to players who play from that launcher.
The English release of PSO2 was in itself quite unexpected – whilst the game was the sequel to the popular, international PC/Dreamcast MMO Phantasy Star Online, PSO2 launched in its native Japan back in 2012. For years there was no word on an English version, let alone an official Western launch. But the recent announcement of upcoming sister-title, New Genesis, designed to be played with and shared with PSO2, likely had a hand in SEGA’s decision to bring the title out.