MMOs are no strangers to rocky launch weeks, but the North American release of Phantasy Star Online 2 on PC late last month has been plagued with some unique issues of its own. Originally released back in 2012, western fans have had to wait a long time for an official English release of the game, so you can image that some players are not happy with its current state.

For starters, the Xbox One version of PSO2 had already been available for a few months prior, leaving PC fans to question when the game would be playable for them. A PC date was eventually announced, and the game came out two months after the initial Xbox release. This meant that, even before players ran into issues downloading and playing the game, they were already behind in regards to levels and equipment.

Fast forward to launch day, and the real problem for PC players made itself known: the Microsoft Store. Unlike the initial Japanese release of PSO2, which was handled solely by Sega, the western Xbox One and PC versions are being handled in partnership with Microsoft. This means that the game is available only on the Microsoft Store for PC, and many players have had a hard time getting PSO2 to download correctly.

From the initial download not working to the game only working once before having to be reinstalled, it seems like a large number of players have run into at least one issue while downloading PSO2. In fact, these problems have been so widespread that a bugfix post on the game’s subreddit has received over 1,000 comments from players looking for fixes.

To their credit, Sega has announced that it is working closely with Microsoft to rectify the many problems people are facing with the Microsoft store. It also revealed that there would be an update coming June 10th that will fix performance issues within PSO2. Those that have already played the game will know how laggy the lobby areas can get, so this is welcome news.

Dedicated players have already created a workaround for some of PSO2’s current problems, which comes in the form of PSO2 Tweaker. Originally designed for the Japanese version, this fan-made program replaces the official game launcher and has its own set of features. This includes installing files and checking for errors, and reducing in-game lag for some of the worst affected areas.

Source: Sega