Project Lore

It's with an unusually heavy heart that I report that earlier this week Sega announced the company's intentions to shutdown the PS2 and PC servers for Phantasy Star Universe.  PSU is being shuttered on March 31, after just over three years of being the second MMOG to come from the Phantasy Star world.

Ironically, the sequel to the first wildly successful console MMOG will continue to live on Xbox 360, including additional content past tomorrow's update.

Tomorrow, January 29, will be the last day that gamers can create a new account on the dieing platforms, and it will coincide with the launch of the "long awaited" MAG+ event.  From that day on, the game will be free-to-play.  Unfortunately, it appears that Sega is not opening the game to new users.  So we won't be able to see what we missed, be a part of closing events, or possible get sucked into the 360 version.

I really enjoyed that last few hours of Tabula Rasa and Auto Assault, two titles that I played during their respective launches.  Although I never played Phantasy Star Universe, I do wish I could be a part of its sign-off.  That's because I did play its predecessor, Phantasy Star Online.  In fact, PSO is the MMOG that I cut my teeth on back in the Dreamcast days.  I even carried over that casual addiction to the Gamecube version ($$$), going so far as to purchase the system's super-rare broadband adapter.

For those unfamilar with Phantasy Star Universe, it's a third-person hack-n-slash game set in a science fiction universe.  It's not like WoW at all, being far closer to a Diablo meets Mass Effect title, with MMOG aspects.  The irony here is that the game is fully playable in "network" mode or as a single-player experience.  I may pick it up to rekindle the desire to slaughter rappies since the price of the PC version is almost at rock bottom ($13.53).

Phantasy Star Universe had one expansion, Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus.

According to Sega, the affected server platforms aren't being shutdown due to production costs of new content, or lack of subscribers, at least not directly.  The main culprit is the spread of the population, which is mostly on 360 now.  Sega should attempt to merge the game's databases and offer a move to the 360 version if at all possible.  I'd bite if I had a soon-to-be-dead character.

Phantasy Star Universe GM Edward@Sega told Escapist, "If you've played on PC/PS2 recently, you also likely know why we are shutting these servers down," he wrote. "The population is simply too low for us to be able to continue to support this platform."  He went on to say that the 360 version's content should now catch up with the Japanese edition of the game, thanks to the singular focus.

Did anyone else try either incarnation of Phantasy Star MMOG?