Nintendo announced during its Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday that Sega is developing a Nintendo Switch version of its Phantasy Star Online 2 game. The game, titled Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud, is slated to launch in Japan in 2018.

The release will be a cloud game, allowing players to connect to a network and play with data stored in the cloud. Players will not need to download game data. Basic gameplay will be free, but some in-game items will be available at cost.

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 launched on the PlayStation 4 in April 2016, alongside the game's "Episode 4" update. The game has more than 4.5 million registered users.

Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation, a television anime series based on the game, premiered in January 2016. The anime has a completely original story. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for home video, and released it on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on March 7.

Kiyu Kibako launched the Phantasy Star Online 2 Episode 0 manga in Kadokawa's Shōnen Ace magazine in February and ended it in July.

[Via Hachima Kikō]