In October 2001, shortly after Sega's announcement that it would abandon the Dreamcast to make software for other consoles, Sega announced that it would port Skies of Arcadia to GameCube and PlayStation 2. US developer Point of View Software was brought on to help with the conversion, though the original staff from Overworks continued to work on the game. Development was announced to begin in January 2002, with Sega initially aiming for a mid-2002 release. However, by April, Sega announced that the PS2 version would be delayed, and by May, rumors spread that it had been cancelled, though this was refuted by Sega. In August 2002, Sega announced that the PS2 version was cancelled in favor of focusing on the GameCube release, which was, as of October 2002, 80% complete. Skies of Arcadia Legends was released on the GameCube in Japan on December 26, 2002, in North America on January 28, 2003, and in Europe on May 23, 2003, with Infogrames distributing for the latter territory. A port for Windows was announced in early 2004, but never released. Sega and Kodama have described Legends as a "director's cut". It partially uses the original game's code, and partially uses newly written code for the GameCube. It features improvements such as slightly more detailed character models, a more stable frame rate, reduced loading times, new side quests and subplots, new hidden discoveries, and a "Wanted List" of new enemies to find. It also has fewer random encounters, and awards more experience points in battle to compensate. With the GameCube lacking the Dreamcast's VMU, some effects, such as Cupils notifications, were moved to the television screen, while the "Pinta Quest" minigame was removed outright. With the GameCube being less readily connected to the internet, the downloadable content was implemented into the main game.