[Update 12:30pm - XdM] An anonymous source at Sony Online Entertainment tells Shacknews that rumors of layoffs and the cancellation of The Agency are accurate. According to the source, a number of the layoffs also reduced the size of the EverQuest 2 team and although the Planetside Next team also took some layoffs, the project is alive and well. Read more »

Following word of a sequel to Sony Online's massively multiplayer shooter PlanetSide, company president John Smedley has outlined his hopes for the project.

"To me, Planetside Next means we get a chance to take the essence of everything that was fun in Planetside and make it a lot better," he wrote in a blog post noticed by PlanetSide-Universe. "Massive battles on a scale no other FPS will touch. None of this 64 player stuff. REALLY MASSIVE. With much better organization, and a tight focus on making sure the action is always going on, with awesome graphics." Read more »