I am the manager for the U.S. release of the Xbox version in addition to the Asian launch of PSO 2

Microsoft was quite cooperative in releasing PSO 2, and to expand that, they were interested in PSO2 Meseta and in supplying us with Agile, their programming program. It is not really a technical reason -- because in terms of moving the game over to Xbox, it was not any easier -- but they really supported placing the game on Xbox. It's not that the Xbox is specifically difficult, but there were some features that needed to be corrected particularly for Xbox. It was initially developed on PC, so it is relatively straightforward to bring over to some other system.

We have been waiting so long for PSO two to come out in the West -- eight years now -- that it's interesting that you chose to release it here first on Xbox One. It's intriguing, because the Xbox One is essentially in the previous year of its life as Microsoft adjustments to the Xbox Series X. Can you launch on Xbox One since you understood that the Xbox Series X will be backward-compatible, and that people would have the ability to carry their advancement over to another console? Or did Microsoft approach you because they are hungrier for content compared to Sony is for the PlayStation 4?

Now, to finish off our series, we turn our focus to Phantasy Star Online 2, that came from the West two decades after the launch of the Dreamcast first -- and eight long years following PSO 2's release in Japan. Western audiences often wondered whether the match would come to North America at all, yet Phantasy Star Online 2 is now available from the West on Xbox One and Windows PC. Furthermore, Sega has announced a brand new, open-world PSO 2 update called New Genesis, due out in 2021. This upgrade has been published in lieu of a brand new episode to deliver the 8-year-old graphics engine current, worldwide. Details on New Genesis are mild at the moment, but Sega says it's going to reveal more in the Tokyo Game Show timeframe after this season.

Meanwhile, we recently spoke to Yuji Nakazawa, PSO two North America producer, in regards to the game's long-awaited coming in the West. Polygon: Please present yourself and in your own words describe your role on the PSO two team. Yuji Nakazawa: My name is Yuji Nakazawa, and I am part of Sega's No. 3 development team and I'm the manufacturer of the North American release of PSO two -- and I functioned as the liaison with various teams for the development of the North American version. I've been on and off of this group. I started with Phantasy Star Universe at Japan and [worked on] the launch of this North American Xbox version of PSU.

I am the manager for the U.S. release of the Xbox version in addition to the Asian launch of PSO 2, that was released before this U.S. version. So I'm sort of this localization specialist. Is it a relief today that PSO two is finally from the West, for all the English-speaking PSO fans who've been asking for this for ages? There is a feeling of relief [because] there was lots of planning that went to buy Phantasy Star Online 2 Meseta the development; for example, Sega U.S. and Sega Japan took surveys in the fans about what they wanted from the match. But as an internet game, I feel the true challenge is in maintaining the service moving forward. We heard a lot of players say they have been waiting eight long years with this release. So we were really pleased about that.