Planetside 2
Encyclopedia
Planetside 2 is an upcoming video game published by Sony Online Entertainment
. The game is a sequel to Planetside
originally released in 2003. The game was officially announced on July 7, 2011 at the Sony Fan Fair. As in the first Planetside
, Planetside 2 chronicles the efforts of the three factions as the fight for territorial control of the planet Auraxis.
, featuring the same world, factions and taking place at roughly the same time period. As in the previous game, Planetside 2 will feature territory control in an open-world, large battles featuring hundreds of players on foot or land/air vehicles. The territory system is more complex than in the original PlanetSide, and will play a bigger part in shaping the battlefield. SOE has been working on balance issues from the first game. Matt Higby, the creative director, has stated "We're definitely going to be rewarding combatants on lower population empires through mechanics such as proportionally increased advancement rates and resources and we'll be attempting to balance the overall empire saturation on each server as much as we can without force-restricting folks from being able to play with their friends."
, but the exact form is still under consideration. The developers have indicated an admiration of the League of Legends
model. Planetside 2 will feature certain free aspects, and will include a cash shop. The cash shop will not sell items such as guns or vehicles that make players more powerful. The cash shop will sell things such as customization.
posted on his LiveJournal
account that the sequel's working title is PlanetSide Next.
Little was revealed about the sequel until December 2010, when Smedley said that SOE would be launching a first-person shooter in March 2011, which was soon confirmed by Paul Williams of SOE as referring to PlanetSide Next. On March 31, 2011, SOE announced that it would be ending development of their spy-themed MMO The Agency
and refocusing efforts on EverQuest Next
and PlanetSide Next. Smedley confirmed that PlanetSide Next had been delayed – the result of recently switching to a new game engine
– and would be available later in the year.
The Planetside 2 website was recently updated to show a video trailer of the upcoming game.
Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
. The game is a sequel to Planetside
PlanetSide
PlanetSide is a massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter computer game published by Sony Online Entertainment and released on May 20, 2003....
originally released in 2003. The game was officially announced on July 7, 2011 at the Sony Fan Fair. As in the first Planetside
PlanetSide
PlanetSide is a massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter computer game published by Sony Online Entertainment and released on May 20, 2003....
, Planetside 2 chronicles the efforts of the three factions as the fight for territorial control of the planet Auraxis.
Gameplay
Planetside 2 will be a re-imagining of PlanetsidePlanetSide
PlanetSide is a massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter computer game published by Sony Online Entertainment and released on May 20, 2003....
, featuring the same world, factions and taking place at roughly the same time period. As in the previous game, Planetside 2 will feature territory control in an open-world, large battles featuring hundreds of players on foot or land/air vehicles. The territory system is more complex than in the original PlanetSide, and will play a bigger part in shaping the battlefield. SOE has been working on balance issues from the first game. Matt Higby, the creative director, has stated "We're definitely going to be rewarding combatants on lower population empires through mechanics such as proportionally increased advancement rates and resources and we'll be attempting to balance the overall empire saturation on each server as much as we can without force-restricting folks from being able to play with their friends."
Business Model
Planetside 2 will be free-to-playFree-to-play
Free-to-play refers to any video game that has the option of allowing its players to play without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game...
, but the exact form is still under consideration. The developers have indicated an admiration of the League of Legends
League of Legends
The BetFred League of Legends was a darts tournament featuring some of the legends of the game of darts which commenced in May 2008. The tournament is broadcast on Setanta Sports in the United Kingdom....
model. Planetside 2 will feature certain free aspects, and will include a cash shop. The cash shop will not sell items such as guns or vehicles that make players more powerful. The cash shop will sell things such as customization.
Development
The first official indications that a PlanetSide sequel was in development appeared in 2009. On September 25, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) sent a mass e-mail to current and former PlanetSide subscribers, asking to fill a survey that would help SOE design the next generation PlanetSide. "We plan to expand the PlanetSide universe with another game and we need your help with the design. After all, who knows the game better than you, our customers, the people who actually play it! Don't worry about the original PlanetSide, it isn't going anywhere." In addition, SOE registered the domain www.planetside2.com on September 21. On October 11, SOE president John SmedleyJohn Smedley (developer)
John Smedley was a computer game programmer, Product Development Director and is now President of Sony Online Entertainment since 2002.Smedley was involved with the creation and development of the original EverQuest and was co-founder of Verant Interactive, Inc., which became Sony Online...
posted on his LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
account that the sequel's working title is PlanetSide Next.
Little was revealed about the sequel until December 2010, when Smedley said that SOE would be launching a first-person shooter in March 2011, which was soon confirmed by Paul Williams of SOE as referring to PlanetSide Next. On March 31, 2011, SOE announced that it would be ending development of their spy-themed MMO The Agency
The Agency (video game)
The Agency was a spy-themed massively multiplayer online shooter. It was being developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment studios in Seattle for Windows and PlayStation 3...
and refocusing efforts on EverQuest Next
EverQuest Next
EverQuest Next is the planned next game in the EverQuest franchise of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, a successor to EverQuest and EverQuest II. The first indication that a new game was in development appeared in a chapter written by EQ creative director Rich Waters in the...
and PlanetSide Next. Smedley confirmed that PlanetSide Next had been delayed – the result of recently switching to a new game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
– and would be available later in the year.
The Planetside 2 website was recently updated to show a video trailer of the upcoming game.