SOE have signed up with ginormous eSports organisation MLG for a year of collaborative competitions and events. Over the next few months, MLG will work with Planetside 2’s dev team to create new features and settings designed for competitive play. What’s more, the two companies will produce “original programming” for Planetside 2 to be broadcast on MLG’s site and Twitch.
PlanetSide 2 players will soon be able to compete via MLG’s GameBattles site. And soon after that, the game will appear at the first of a number of MLG Pro Circuit events scheduled this year – the Winter Championship in Dallas, Texas, on the weekend beginning March 15th.
More news on the broadcasts, including a complete schedule, will be released in the coming weeks.
“PlanetSide 2 players are extremely loyal to their chosen Empires and when it comes to battling, they are beyond competitive and truly enjoy the in-game rivalries, so it was the natural next step for us to bring PlanetSide 2 to the most competitive eSports organization,” said SOE monarch John Smedley.
“We’re excited for this opportunity to work with MLG and are confident that their competitive gaming expertise can turn PlanetSide 2 into a premiere eSports platform, allowing us to extend the game experience and deliver new ways for players to interact with other players and the broader community, while helping to further diversify and grow our audience.”
And here’s the implausibly named Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of MLG, on the same subject:
“From the first time I played PlanetSide 2, I knew that it made sense for the MLG community. I am excited to introduce the game to our audience and to see how it evolves along with the growing and evolving eSports landscape.”
Us too, Sundance. Us too. But what about you? Can you see Planetside as an eSport if you squint a bit?