Sega of America and Sega Europe have announced plans for an open multiplayer beta program for Phantasy Star Universe on the Xbox 360. For two days only, today, October 11th and tomorrow, October 12th, Sega will offer a free beta download demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace that will be playable for a one-week trial period closing on October 18th. Should you download in time to take part in the beta trial, you'll be able to get a sneak peek at the rich online multiplayer half of this highly anticipated action-RPG.

In other Phantasy Star Universe news, Sega has also announced the GUARDIANS License pricing program for the final game's online play, which will require monthly payments of $9.99 in order to play, or a six-month discount payment option priced at $49.99. Thankfully, PSU will also feature an in-depth single-player story mode for those who'd rather fly solo.

Phantasy Star Universe is scheduled to ship into stores for the Xbox 360, PS2 and PC on October 24th, so you'd better hop on Live and try out this exciting new Phantasy Star adventure for free while you can. We'll report back soon with our full hands-on impressions.