A few weeks back, Sega and Xbox hosted a closed beta of the long time coming MMO, Phantasy Star Online 2 in North America. While the closed beta wasn’t as smooth (initially) as many hoped it would be, it was a smashing success. Now Sega has informed us that the open beta will take place next week on March 17, 2020.
I know what I’ll be doing next week, do you?
The time is finally here! The #PSO2NA Open Beta Test starts next week, March 17th! Play one of Japan's biggest online action RPGs, coming first on @Xbox One.
More information coming soon to our official website: https://t.co/pJIEmQkazM pic.twitter.com/vy6Az57bjB
— Phantasy Star Online 2 (NA) (@play_pso2) March 9, 2020
This time everyone who didn’t get a code to play the game will be to partake in the fun. In all likelihood, this open beta will serve as a stress test for the servers, as the closed beta ran damned good towards the end that is. Meaning we should have a release date announcement shortly following the beta.
Sadly this open beta is also just Xbox One only, so those waiting to get a chance to play the PC version will have to wait a bit longer. Which is exactly where I plan on playing the game once it is released.
Will I need to reinstall the game to play the open beta?
If you’ve already played in the closed beta, then you will not need to re-download the game. Instead, a smaller update will be pushed to get you on the new build. Of course, if you haven’t played the game already then you’ll need to download the entire game starting on March 16, 2020. That said, I’d make sure you’re downloading the client as soon as possible, as they’re going to be quite a few people also dying to get a taste of this game.
While we don’t know when the full game will be released, but seeing how we’ve waited 12 years already. What’re another few weeks, right? And not to worry if you aren’t an Xbox or PC game, as Phantasy Star Online 2 is slated to release on other consoles once the timed-exclusivity period is over.