Dear Reader:
Phantasy Star Online was originally going to be a new IP
Every company has a handful of games that stand out from the rest of their output, and for SEGA, Phantasy Star Online is definitely one of those games. 20 years later and people still talk about the online MMORPG. What it achieved with online gameplay for consoles was above and beyond anything else at the time, and it really put the Phantasy Star brand on the map. That's why it's funny to learn that the game originally didn't have anything to do with Phantasy Star.
In an interview with Polygon, lead programmer Akio Setsumasa talked about the very early days of Phantasy Star Online, when the game didn't have a single tie to the long-running franchise.
I don’t remember the original title, but it wasn’t Phantasy Star-themed. It was originally supposed to be a new IP with an original universe. It was scheduled to be a sci-fi RPG, but the specifics of the game world had not been decided.