SOE unveils PlanetSide 2

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 8 July, 2011

PlanetSide Next evolves.

Sony Online entertainment has unveiled PlanetSide 2, once known as PlanetSide Next.

The massively multiplayer first-person shooter sequel was announced during SOE's Fan Faire, which kicked off last night in Las Vegas.

In its description of the game SOE mentions an online persistent world, diverse combat roles and deep skill trees. Several classic roles from PlanetSide return.

The three factions you can choose from are the Terran Republic, New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty.

The Terran Republic's an authoritarian government that leverages military might to maintain strict control over the colonial citizens. The New Conglomerate are rebels opposed to the Terran Republic. And the Vanu Sovereignty are obsessed with technology.

We're promised vehicle-based combat, and a beta. "We will ensure that PlanetSide players will be among the first in," SOE said.

A business model is yet to be announced. Will PlanetSide 2 be free-to-play?

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 10 months ago

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  • George-Roper #1 11 months ago

    Who gives a fuck? We all know SOE will butcher PS into mass market, micro-transaction riddled shit.

    That company simply has a reputation for it.

  • jimr9999us #2 11 months ago

    @George: rofl +10

  • smally #3 11 months ago

    WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  • IonOnion #4 11 months ago

    Visually it looks like Halo Reach.

  • levitate #5 11 months ago

    It can wait.

  • yoomazir #6 11 months ago

    After watching the trailer I am really wondering if this game should be really called Planetside 2, honestly I didn't got the vibe from it.

  • Anciegher #7 11 months ago

    Too much bloom, looks like a ps3 game, which is bad when it's a PC exclusive! Otherwise I'm kinda interested in seeing more but right now the new Tribes game looks more interesting than this.

  • fulci #8 11 months ago

    No vanu sceen shots?

  • Daxside #9 11 months ago

    NC 4 life yo!

  • TheRealBadabing #10 11 months ago

    /sex wee

  • G-Lord #11 11 months ago

    I was always intrigued by the concept of the original Planetside, but I never got to play it.
    That's why I keep an eye on this one.

  • Mox #12 11 months ago

    No Mechanised Assault Exo-Armour, no Galaxy drops, no orbital drop. The defining elements of Planetside for me were the lattice link hacks, ANT runs and the "ecology" of the bases, and those gal drops. Having a command-rank player order an assault on Gunuku in 5 minutes, pulling a Sunderer out of the vehicle bay and watching it fill up with loyal soldiers of the Terran Republic. Finding a sneaky place to park an AMS near a base under assault, guarding it from NC infiltrators. Sneaking into a VS-held base, hacking the terminal in the spawn room and deploying a Pounder MAX to smash the tubes. It's not about the soldier graphics, don't really care much for the new gray look but it's irrelevant. Planetside was always about the game, and we're not going to see that in a 30 second video.

  • bemaniac #13 11 months ago

    However Mox they want more people to play this one and I didn't understand a word of what you just said despite playing 6 mmos to death in my life.

  • Nasty #14 11 months ago

    SOE unveils engine update for Planetside.

    Tad dissapointed to be honest. Was expecting some 'woah, if they can pull that off...' type announcement to get tthe juices going.

    Interplanetary travel; an evolution of the factions beyond the original concept; an evolving world beyond base capturing; browser based 'hacking' mini games that tie in to the game world (want to control a point? you need someone on the outside to complete the job). Really needs something beyond the original crammed in to a new engine to spark some interest.

  • Mox #15 11 months ago

    I don't understand half of what WoW players say to each other, doesn't seem to affect their commercial viability much.

    As for something to add to Planetside, I'd probably go for limited structure destruction. Kind of like the first Red Faction.

  • half #16 11 months ago

    I can't believe how much this looks like Halo Reach (or even Halo 3). But then I've never played Planetside when it was out years ago on PC. But looks interesting with the skill trees and diverse roles mentioned.
    Edited by half at 08/07/11 @ 12:30

  • Quixz #17 11 months ago

    I personally do not like the look of the game, it just looks tired for some reason. I will still give it a go when it's out.

  • boyscout #18 11 months ago

    what sort of game is this, is it a sandbox with terratorial conflicts over resources or battlegrounds with points and stuff?

  • riseer #19 11 months ago

    Anciegher,It looks like Halo their are no Ps3 games that have that type of bloom.If anything the 360 uses way to much of it and really makes the game look bad.Don't start a flame war over shit you don't know.

  • Ryuken #20 11 months ago

    Euh lads, PlanetSide was the game those early screenshots/trailers of the first Halo (you know, with the tank and the dropship and such) tried to convey. It's massive combat first and that's something that's really unique for a genre which limits itself by going after the corridor shooter crowd.

    If you think you've seen digital war that can only mean you've played PlanetSide at its peak...

  • General_Zod #21 11 months ago

    ^

    Let me know when Arma 3 has 300 man bridge battles.

    I have played many, many FPS games but none of them have come close to competing with the scale and teamwork of Planetside. I had more fun driving a supply truck while being escorted by tanks and fighter aircraft than in any role in those FPS's.

  • Clive_Dunn #22 10 months ago

    Very, very excited. The first was years ahead of its time and if this is a properly balanced version using modern tech I'll be straight into my Vanguard.