As revealed on Monday night, Phantasy Star Online 2 will be a free-to-play game that will make money using in-game item purchases. Sega have promised that this won’t throw off the balance between paying and non-paying players, but the fact remains that this system hasn’t been tested on a large scale yet.
The upcoming closed beta will be the first time a large number of players get to try out the pay-per-item model. Every closed beta participant will be given 10,000 AC (Arcs Cash), which is Phantasy Star Online 2’s currency. You’ll presumably convert real money into AC in the full game.
Currency system aside, the closed beta will focus primarily on game balance tweaks, identifying bugs, Sega say on the game’s website. This also includes ironing out the Matter Board, Client Orders and Emergency Quest systems. As touched upon before, the Matter Board will tie into Phantasy Star Online 2’s story in some manner.
Once the closed beta has concluded, Sega will announce details of an open beta. Phantasy Star Online 2 is scheduled to begin operating in full on PC sometime during summer.
