PlanetSide 2 developer Daybreak Games is teasing something big coming in 2020 for its long-running massively multiplayer online shooter. Word of the updates likely comes as welcome news to fans disappointed after the recent cancellation of PlanetSide Arena.
Running since 2012, PlanetSide 2 sets itself apart from most first-person shooters in some key ways. The most obvious is simply in being active for seven years, when other popular shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield tend to release a new entry every year or so. Where those games focus on short, isolated skirmishes in their multiplayer modes, PlanetSide 2 aims to simulate a massive, never-ending battle for territory. The game’s persistent server tracks the ongoing battle between three player factions, allowing them to capture and control territory. Over 1,000 players can take part in a single battle, making outfits - essentially the game’s version of guilds or clans - important to keep the fight organized. Though it has far fewer players than most other shooters, its unique structure has earned it plenty of extremely dedicated fans.
Daybreak Games recently announced that big changes are coming to PlanetSide 2 in the first quarter of 2020. According to the developer, it’s bringing updates to make outfits a more rewarding part of the game, both for their leaders and for individual members, saying that the update will emphasize “coordination, camaraderie, and conquest.” Daybreak Games says it hopes that the changes will bring back players who’ve left PlanetSide 2 and satisfy those who are still playing. More details on exactly what that means are planned to be revealed in January.
Despite the popularity of PlanetSide 2, its planned spin-off PlanetSide Arena met with a very different reception. Envisioned as Daybreak Games’ massively multiplayer take on the battle royale, PlanetSide Arena would have seen battles between two teams of 250 players each. After launching in early access in September with nearly 1,500 concurrent players, its playerbase dwindled quickly, reaching just a single active player at one point in November. At the time, Daybreak Games said that it would continue to work on PlanetSide Arena in early access, but announced earlier in December that the game would officially be shut down in January 2020.
Though PlanetSide Arena’s cancellation was disappointing, it was always meant as a sideline to the main games in the franchise. The continued work on PlanetSide 2 even as PlanetSide 3 is being planned shows that Daybreak Games is still committed to keeping the game fresh years after its debut.
Next: Modern Warfare (2019) Reviews: It’s Good, Not Great
Source: Daybreak Games
