Great news for fans of one of SEGA’s longest-running franchises: our fantasy-action MMO on the Xbox 360, Phantasy Star Universe, has now made its way to Games on Demand!

One of the biggest reasons this is significant is that Phantasy Star Universe simply hasn’t been widely available for some time, with mostly used copies available on Amazon and eBay. The download is now available for 1600 MSP / $19.99, and combined with recently making the Ambition of the Illuminus Expansion free (not to mention the release of GUARDIANS Advanced Content), there has never been a better time to get in on the action.

On a more personal note — and as a GM for PSU — I’m very happy to see this available. This is a game which has been supported by a very dedicated, very engaged fanbase. Having an opportunity to make this unique game available as a digital download is definitely a win for our community.

And the game is unique — an action/RPG MMO with all the pedigree of a dungeon crawler and the unique look & feel of the Phantasy Star franchise. The game gives users a spectacular array of customization, as well — from your character’s weight & height to the countless in-game outfits, to the 15 different class types and all the available weapon types to master, you can spend hundreds of hours sculpting a totally unique character. The game also has an excellent “My Room” and shop system, where you can decorate your own player room, use it to store items, and set up a player shop to sell goods to other players.

While all of this is familiar to longtime players, there’s still a whole “universe” for others to discover, and the game has been more lively recently than ever before — while the game has always had lots of updates adding additional missions & events, the recent GUARDIANS Advanced Content release adds unprecedented customization & options to the game, giving even players who hit the level cap a chance to continue to develop and customize their character’s abilities and powers.

Check out Phantasy Star Universe over Xbox Live and download the expansion for free — even if you don’t get in on the online action, offline mode has an epic single-player “story mode”. Online mode has a subscription fee but doesn’t require a Gold Membership in order to use — whatever way you pick to play, now’s a great time to check out the Universe!