The huge scope of the PlanetSide games has always appealed, though I’ve never spent a concerted amount of time trying to learn one.
Now Daybreak Games are giving people a more accessible jumping on point with the announcement of PlanetSide Arena, which opens its doors to PC players on 29th January 2019. Although, as the name suggests, this won’t be a straight evolution of PlanetSide 2, but is actually more of a spinoff. In fact, Daybreak promise to keep developing PlanetSide 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRi_ouHH-vM
Arena keeps the huge person player count and Medic, Assault and Engineer classes, but ditches the persistent servers and territorial battles in favour of more common FPS game modes. At launch this includes the 500 player group mode Massive Clash, and both solo and 3-man team Battle Royale with 100 and 102 players respectively. New modes, including Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch and Search & Destroy Will then be added over successive seasons. The player count can go up to 1000 players, depending on the mode, but is being kept in check to start with.
As with many modern shooters, it will feature a seasonal Battle Pass set up for continued content, but will be a paid game. Pre-ordering the game for $19.99 will get access to the closed beta, Battle Pass Season 1 and an Assault armour set, while a legendary edition for $39.99 will add sets for Engineer and Medic and the M-20 Tempest hoverbike. The dates for the closed beta haven’t yet been announced, but will also see dedicated PS2 players being invited to try it out.
There’s no word on whether the game is intended for console, but considering that PlanetSide 2 is available on PlayStation 4 and the more bitesized game modes, it’s not outside the realms of possibility.
Source: press release
