Planetside is taking a note from its sequel, Planetside 2. The MMO is going free-to-play sometime in the future according to Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley, though he didn't give an exact time frame for when it would make the switch.
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The world has more free-to-play MMORPGs than you can shake a stick at and most aren't interesting for long, but why not treat them like a tourist would? See the sights, join in local customs, then head off somewhere new. Add riding dragons in Dragon's Prophet to your itinerary, as Sony Online Entertainment today announced it'll enter open beta testing on May 30.
PlanetSide 2 is one of the best-looking MMOs out there, and Sony Online Entertainment knows it. Powered by an engine it calls "ForgeLight," SOE plans on developing its upcoming games exclusively on the engine.
"Every internal product that we make from here on out will use ForgeLight," senior art director Tramell Isaac told Shacknews at GDC. "We can put 2000 people on a server, and we can have all those guys running at 60fps. We can have upwards of 200 on screen at one time. You can't do that with any other MMO, period. You just can't do that. Then on top of that, you can do it with visual fidelity that's comparable with any other first person shooter out there."
Ooh, aah, with so many things to unlock and buy in PlanetSide 2, how do you know which to get? Thanks to today's patch, you can now try before you buy and play with every toy in the game in a new virtual reality training area. The hefty update also brought cloaking for quad bikes, bug fixes, and a bajillion balance tweaks.
All reality shows are inevitably cancelled once the novelty wears off, and bloody reality game show FPS Bullet Run is no different. Publisher Sony Online Entertainment has announced that it'll shut down the free-to-play FPS, developed by Acony and originally named Hedone, on March 8. Because it's an online-only affair, that'll be it, no more Bullet Run for anyone.
Sony Online Entertainment's FPS PlanetSide 2 launches today on PC, and a new trailer shows just how massive the MMO can be. Players are able to jump into futuristic vehicles and gear, and start killing the enemy on the planet Auraxis without dropping a dime.
Sure, we've got free-to-play fantasy MMORPGs coming out of our ears today, but how many of them let you fly dragons? Well, some. But how many let you capture, train, and then fly dragons? Dragon's Prophet will certainly let you become a dragonlord, and Sony Online Entertainment today announced it's bringing the MMO from Runes of Magic developer Runewaker to North America.
All the giddy fun of jetpacking, stomping around in mechs, roaming around in tanks, zooming about in VTOLs, and generally shooting faces will be opened up to everyone on November 20, when Sony Online Entertainment's free-to-play MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 will officially launch.
Sony Online Entertainment's bank robbin' co-op shooter, Payday: The Heist, is the next game to join the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection. Subscribers will be able to download the game "for free" with tomorrow's PlayStation Store update.
But that's not the only thing coming to Plus tomorrow. Members will be able to buy The Unfinished Swan one week early, and get exclusive access to the PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale beta on both Vita and PS3.
PlanetSide 2 is going the free-to-play route, and is still hashing out the details of its membership models. Sony Online Entertainment recently shared some early plans on its membership benefits, along with thoughts on where those benefits would cross the line into "pay-to-win."
You really want to get into the PlanetSide 2 beta--but somehow, access hasn't managed to land in your lap. What's a gamer to do? Shell out money, of course.
Sony Online Entertainment is now selling the "Alpha Squad package." The $40 bundle includes 4000 Station Cash, redeemable for in-game items in any SOE game. In addition, it includes an exclusive decal, "Founder" title, exclusive camo set, three weapon unlocks for each of the three empires, and a 10% experience and resource boost for 6 months.
Some PC gamers have profited from the not-quite-virtual economies of games like Team Fortress 2 and Diablo 3. Sony Online Entertainment's stable of MMOs will soon offer in-game item creation and marketplace sales as well, thanks to the upcoming "Player Studio" announced by the publisher today.
The Studio will let players download sample geometry for in-game objects, design and personalize their item, write a short description, and then submit it to SOE for review. If it makes the cut, it will be sold on the marketplace and the creator will get 40% of the item's net sales.
The Planetside 2 beta has started to roll out, but if you didn't get in this round keep your chin up. Sony Online Entertainment has assured that the waves will continue to hit in the coming weeks, and has detailed exactly how they'll be stacked to assure loyal customers get ahead of the unwashed masses.
With the huge number of free-to-play MMORPGs hanging around nowadays, loitering in shopping centres and being mouthy to security guards, one could play nothing but their typically-better starting levels and still not run out of games. If you're speeding through them, though, fear not, as SOE has dated the free-to-play relaunch of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for Tuesday, August 14.
Sony Online Entertainment's free-to-play shooter Bullet Run has officially gone live for the PC. The game uses the conceit of a reality TV show, though with a good deal more violence than you see from the crew on The Apprentice.
"I actually thought they were going to shut this down. Cool that people still play."
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