Sony unveils PS3-exclusive MAG

By Robert Purchese Published 15 July, 2008

Online battles for 256 players.

Sony has unveiled MAG, an enormous action game exclusive to PS3 that boasts 256-player online battles.

The name means Massive Action Game, in case you were in any doubt, and SOCOM outfit Zipper Interactive is the studio behind it.

Lead designer Andy Beaudoin took to the E3 conference stage to fill us in, and revealed that each side will be broken down into eight-player squads led by those who had previously proven themselves.

There will be a character advancement trees to climb and you can fine-tune your soldier to fit your style. Eventually you will rank up and assume more responsibility in your throng.

The idea is to combine large-scale battles with the intimacy of squad combat.

All of this was illustrated in what appeared to be a CG trailer, which showed huge armies and multiple views of the action: commander view, top-down view - presumably depending on what role you take.

We'll hopefully have that for you soon.

MAG is due out sometime in 2009, or "beyond holiday season", as Sony boss Jack Tretton put it.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • hammerstein07 #1 4 years ago

    Looked like CG, that doesn't show us anything.

    The proof of the pudding ... as the saying goes
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 21:36

  • Abscido #2 4 years ago

    Truly, truly uninspiring.

    Games conventions ain't what they used to be!
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 21:38

  • bad09 #3 4 years ago

    I want to see it playing there's a catch somewhere 256 players???!!!!

  • the_dudefather #4 4 years ago

    concept seemed pretty cool, looks like its a good way off though

  • malmer #5 4 years ago

    CG-trailer.

    Release probably in 2010. Might make late 2009, but probably not.

    And I bet if there is an coordinated effort to move all those 256 players into the same area of the map it will not work. The game will probably put up some invisible walls or have some other mechanic that prevents it from being massive in one small locale.

  • liverpoolfc #6 4 years ago

    NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT

  • stevencole7 #7 4 years ago

    Beats Gears 5 v 5 action......

  • ruttyboy #8 4 years ago

    I didn't see any 'huge armies' in the trailer 0_o

    Oh and for those who are wondering how this will work, it will be 8v8 battles a la COD4 (sounds like they've copied the class thing from there too) with either a meta game over the top or pitching the survivors against each other in successive rounds.

  • tonynibbles #9 4 years ago

    Sorry, but this sounds fucking AMAZING!

    Not since Planetside has a large scale battlefield game been announced. 256 players in a war zone. And from
    the people who made SOCOM no less (the biggest online console game for years, before XBL too).

    Very pleased that someone has announced a game like this and looking forwrd to seeing how this turns out.

  • hammerstein07 #10 4 years ago

    Microsoft have unveiled some research technology lately that copes with introducing massive numbers of players in an online world. They demoed it with Quake 3, so I don't think it's impossible to have 256 players on screen at once, assuming the actual packets flying around are of a manageable size for the hardware.

  • Widge #11 4 years ago

    @rutty

    is that assumption not fact by any chance?
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 21:52

  • ruttyboy #12 4 years ago

    I think it's a fair assumption, otherwise the 8 player squad thing is pretty pointless.

  • Muddtallica #13 4 years ago

    They must have spent months devising that title.

  • Dreddnaught #14 4 years ago

    Was hoping for 257 players ......

    Oh well
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 22:16

  • Xerx3s #15 4 years ago

    "I want to see it playing there's a catch somewhere 256 players???!!!! "

    It's not that hard to do, it's just a matter of the right tech and coding. Making it fun and balanced, now that is the hard thing and where many fail.

  • JediMasterMalik #16 4 years ago

    Looks like it'll be really good, the team have a good record with online games. Shame they only showed CGI though.

  • malmer #17 4 years ago

    "Only possible on the PS3" = BS.
    You don't need PSUs for that. You need clever partiioning of your gamespace and good ways to send data over a network.
    Edited by 1 at 15/07/08 @ 22:34

  • bad09 #18 4 years ago

    @ Xerx3s

    Hopefully! I dunno CGI no gameplay, I'll believe it when I see it. I do hope it delivers on it's promise (and it's good!) sounds like great fun!

  • SeesThroughAll #19 4 years ago

    Game conventions have changed.

    ID-tagged companies bring ID-tagged games, made by ID-tagged developers. Game conventions have changed. Content control, press control, exclusivity control... He who controls the press controls the content, controls History.

    Game conventions have changed.

  • bad09 #20 4 years ago

    Very good SeesThroughAll I like! :)

  • FenderMaster #21 4 years ago

    awesome SeesThroughAll!!

  • Teamallstar #22 4 years ago

    This makes me laugh so much. Sony announce game that is guaranteed to cure cancer, solve worldwide hunger and poverty and will eradite all wars... Due for release in 2009 or at some point in the not too distant future... well unless it is delayed by 6 months and then another, and then strangely cancelled at the last minute...

    How desperate are they getting...

  • mkreku #23 4 years ago

    Does anyone remember the Joint Operations games? How many players did they manage online? 150? I remember seeing a shitload of people rushing me over a hill once at least.. It was awesome :)

  • Execta #24 4 years ago

    Sounds amazing. A great new exclusive game for PS3 system. And PS3 always needs more shooters. It only haves upcoming Resistance 2 and Killzone 2. Resistance: Fall of Man was pretty good too but not enough. Hopefully MAG will be great. Looking up to this.

  • FixedInfinity #25 4 years ago

    @mkreku
    Yep, Joint Operations was an amazing game!
    Been searching for the last few years to find a game that gets close to just how excellent that was to play!

  • Widge #26 4 years ago

    Teamallstar.... 17 posts of gash and counting...

  • zuljin #27 4 years ago

    @ruttyboy
    "I think it's a fair assumption, otherwise the 8 player squad thing is pretty pointless."

    I take it you haven't played Bad Company then. 24 players online in squads of 4 and works a treat. How bout we wait until we see some gameplay until we make assumptions.

  • themorganator #28 4 years ago

    @stevencole7

    "Beats Gears 5 v 5 action......"

    err, when I see this in action, that may be true. Until that time, this is just typical Sony PR as far as I'm concerned - no substance, just concept.

  • themorganator #29 4 years ago

    @Widge

    Come on mate, why don't you pop your 1000-post cherry with more blinded fanboy twaddle.

    Come on,.. you can do it.

    idiot.

  • Chufty #30 4 years ago

    It was, in fact, Sony who made Planetside, where 1000 players in a battle at once was about the norm. So don't all be so skeptical.

    It's just consoles catching up with PCs a decade late again.

  • rhinoxious #31 4 years ago

    Sounds good, but until my real-world friends/family buy PS3s, I'm not going to play this over something on 360.

    Games important.
    Friends more so.