The closed beta test forPhantasy Star Online 2’s western release had a rough launch Friday thanks toserver congestion creating severe lag and disconnectsfor many players. As a result, the free-to-play action role-playing game announced on Twitter that its beta will be extended until 12:00 a.m. on Monday, February 10.
Despite the beta’s extension, thePhantasy Star Online 2servers will be shut down at midnight tonight and re-open Sunday at 5:00 p.m. PST. To make up for the issues players have experienced, the game will add 10 Casino Coin Passes to Sunday’s daily rewards and additional “Urgent Quests” will be available to help players claim special rewards like a Sega Dreamcast-themed Mag and a “Coated Edge” weapon camo.
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The wave of server congestion problems led to lots of displeasure from fans on social media sites like Reddit, especially givenPhantasy Star Online 2’s plans to release on other consolesin the west going forward. However the beta’s extension announcement on Twitter has gathered over 700 likes and 100 comments as of this writing, many of them thankful to the developers.
Phantasy Star Online 2has been active since 2012 in Japan, starting on PC and eventually launching on the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. A western release of the popular MMORPG based on Sega’sPhantasy Starseries that dates back to the 80s was announced for theXbox One and PC during E3 2019.
It’s not unusual for a brand new online game of this scale to experience problems. Crema Games’Pokemon-inspired RPGTemtemalso faced issueswhen it opened to the public last month, though there’s something to be said about the difference in expectations between an independent project likeTemtemand a large, established franchise likePhantasy Star.
Between the troubled launch ofPhantasy Star Online 2’s closed beta test and alive-actionSonic the Hedgehogmoviereleasing February 14, Sega has been in the news quite a bit lately. The latter has had quite a “rags to riches” story due to Sonic’s redesign by Tyson Hesse, so it will be worth watching the MMO to see if it takes a similar trajectory.
Phantasy Star Online 2is in development for “all platforms” and releases, in the west, in spring 2020 for PC and Xbox One.
