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Phantasy Star Online 2 Starts Service on PS4 on April 20

Sega announced during its "Phantasy Star Thanksgiving 2016" event on Sunday that it will launch its planned service for the Phantasy Star Online 2 game for the PlayStation 4 on April 20. Sega will run a closed beta test for the PS4 service with 50,000 testers from February 25 to March 6. The company will accept applications for the closed beta from January 25 to February 15.

In addition, Sega will release the game's "Episode 4" simultaneously on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and PC versions of the game on April 20. The game will be available in a "Deluxe Package" version, which will bundle a costume based on Itsuki from the Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation anime series, as well as a download code for in-game items. The "Character Create Demo Episode 4" will debut in late February. Additionally, each of the six home video volumes of the Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation anime will contain a download code for Phantasy Star Online 2 to enable character customization options in the game based on the character design for the anime's Itsuki and Rina characters (see image below).

"Episode 4" will have a new class called Summoners (see image below), who fight with pets that they raise by giving them Eggs to raise their attributes. Players can also raise their pets through Phantasy Star Online 2 es (the game's smartphone version). Additionally, Layered Wear will now reflect on the character model, and players can change their Outer Wear through PSO2 es. Weaponoid Character Chips in PSO2 es will now feature voiced in-battle cut-ins. Sora Amamiya will voice the Salus Punisher, with character design by Kisai Takayama. Sega will announce the rest of the voice-cast for the cut-ins at an event in February.

Sega released the free-to-play Phantasy Star Online 2 role-playing game for Windows PC in Japan in 2012, followed by a PlayStation Vita release in 2013, and an Android and iOS release in April and May 2014, respectively. The game has more than 3.5 million registered users.

Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation, a television anime series based on the game, premiered on January 7. The anime has a completely original story. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan, and Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for home video.

Sources: 4Gamer, Dengeki Online via Yaraon!