Sega Finally Breaks Silence; PSO2 "Delayed"

It has been months since we've heard anything from Sega regarding the Western release of Phantasy Star Online 2. As you might imagine, this has made the player community a little bit nervous about the game's future (except for those of us who are already playing the Japanese version, of course).

In recent months, potential players of Western PSO2 have pleaded with Sega of America to say something—anything—about the game's future. Yesterday, Sega responded.

The game, originally slated for an "early 2013" release, is now delayed, with no new release date given. This news was confirmed by Edward on the official PSO2 forums:

Hey all, just want to reply & repeat what I said just now in reply on the blog. Yes this was our official statement to the press. I am sorry that it comes after so much time waiting. This doesn't mean the game won't release here; in fact it means we really want to make sure it gets a full & proper release, as best as we can support it.

I wish I had more news to tell you, and when there is, I promise I will. There's a lot of people here who will be working hard to bring the game to the West. Talking to so many players at PAX was a terrific experience and I know how much this game and this series means to fans; for as long as I am here I will do my best to support the game and the franchise with all our fans.

My impression is that with "early 2013" rapidly coming to a close, and people becoming increasingly skeptical of a Western release, Sega finally realized that they had to say something to keep everyone remotely interested.

The only problem is that most of the people that are remotely interested are already playing the Japanese version. Now that we officially have no idea when the English version of the game will be released, I'm sure even more players will join up on the Japanese servers. Edward's qualifier—"as best as we can support it"—doesn't fill me with much confidence, either, but I'll reserve my judgment for the final product.

So there we go. We asked for news and we got it, though it obviously wasn't the news anyone was hoping for. The English version of PSO2 is not canceled, but it doesn't sound like we'll be playing it anytime soon.