Sega’s MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2 has been one of Japan’s top MMO titles since its launch six years ago, but the developers talked about its recent struggles of the past year in an interview with Dengeki.
Dengeki: First, please share your thoughts when looking back at the last year.
Satoshi Sakai, series producer: I believe that it’s been the toughest yet, if not a year that had many hardships. In the end, it wouldn’t be a lie to say that it was a well-deserved punishment for some of the troubles that dragged on from the start of Episode 5, and that also goes for some of the problems we’ve yet to fix. That still doesn’t change the fact that Phantasy Star Online 2 is one of the main online RPGs in Japan, and it is still one of Sega Games’ top level profit-earners, so there’s completely no need to worry about its continuation of service.
Can you tell us about the current state of Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud (on Nintendo Switch)?
Sakai: Truth be told, we didn’t get the results that we were expecting. The form of cloud in itself is a challenge for us, and there are many things we’ve yet to try out and things we should‘ve done, so we’ll carefully look into those parts while working on adjustments.
Do you plan on more programs such as the Cloud Block Boost (experience boost for partying with those on PSO2 Cloud) and such in the future?
Sakai: We will have programs like that as well as support for 60fps, and adjustments to the cloud version, but we’d like to think of thresholds to set before that goes into play.
Hiroki Hamasaki, Director: There’s actually been a lot of downloads. However, not many are actually playing from there in the present situation.
Sakai: The Switch itself doesn’t have an email address and you can’t accept the email, so we’ll make it so that you can use a smartphone or PC to accept the Sega ID registration. I think things like are part of setting a threshold. We plan to make adjustments so that you’ll get to play right away without making an ID.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is available for PC, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in Japan and Southeast Asia.
