Planetside 2 will launch “on or before December 31st, 2012” say SOE. The new comes not emblazoned across the sky of the game's beta as it should be, but rather in the small print of a new members package the developer has just announced - Alpha Squad - with which it’s now possible to pay your way into Planetside 2 beta.
SOE have lifted the NDA on Planetside 2’s external beta today, ungagging players, letting them talk openly about their wounds. Amid the babble about buggies and base assaults, SOE head John Smedley has clambered atop the tree stump of oratory that is Twitter to set the record straight about both the state of the beta and the nature of the game itself.
The Planetside 2 beta is very much underway, and SOE are starting to see results, says creative director Matt Higby: “We’re finding every day more and more stuff that needs to get fixed.” But there’ll be more, and players shouldn’t go in expecting one of those fancy, newfangled bug-free betas.
As much as it might be tempting to lament the stranglehold that Steam has on PC gaming, it’s also for a few very good reasons; the community aspects, and the auto-patching are just a few, and when a highly anticipated MMO comes along, everyone who uses Steam is going to add it to their library anyway. Either way, the news that Planetside 2 is definitely coming to Steam, according to SOE President John Smedley, can only be a good thing. Our Spotlight units plug content our journalists have made, that our advertisers want to promote. Sometimes the promotion is paid for, but the content they go to is always independent with no client oversight or approval.
Update: The President of SOE, John Smedley, has tweeted that the Planetside Beta is going to be starting on Monday at 2pm, if everything goes to plan. That's sooner than sooner than soon. That's only a weekend away! It's time to start dusting off those bespoke driving gloves that make piloting a Galaxy such a joy. And make sure your hands still fit in them.
Planetside is close. Oh so close. According to a tweet by SOE’s John Smedley, the beta will launch “next Mon or Tuesday barring any unforeseen circumstances.” Meanwhile, the full cinematic trailer for the game has just landed on Youtube.
