PlanetSide (video game)

PlanetSide
Developer(s)Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher(s)
SeriesPlanetSide
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

PlanetSide was a 2003 massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter video game developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment.

PlanetSide chronicles the efforts of three factions as they fight for territorial control over ten different continents on the planet Auraxis. Players take on the role of individual soldiers fighting for one of the three factions within the game, and can specialize in various fields such as combat vehicle crewman, infantry, invisible infiltrator or a variety of combat support roles; such as combat medic or combat engineer. The game is played primarily in a first person perspective, with the option of third-person.

Unlike most shooting games, in which small-scale matches take place in essentially an instanced map, PlanetSide battles can involve hundreds of players in a single fight. PlanetSide battles concern control over territory and strategic points, and can cause repercussions to all three factions. To date, PlanetSide remains one of the few MMOFPS games ever created. A sequel, PlanetSide 2, was released in November 2012. Rather than a direct sequel, it is a "re-imagining" of the first game. On January 24, 2014 Sony Online Entertainment announced that the game was going to be free-to-play in April 2014.[4] The game was officially launched as free to play on April 29, 2014, after several delays.[5] On July 1, 2016, at 4:00pm PT, the servers went offline permanently.[6]

PlanetSide holds the Guinness World Record for "Most players online at one time in an FPS war game," which was set when 6,400 players were active at once on the game's Emerald server. It once broke the record for "Most players in an online FPS battle" as well with 600 players (now held by the game's sequel, PlanetSide 2).[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "What's New?". Eurogamer.net. May 23, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Maartein (April 23, 2003). "PlanetSide Ships May 19". Shacknews. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "PlanetSide Goes Underground With PlanetSide: Core Combat". GameZone. August 18, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Sykes, Tom (January 25, 2014). "SOE revise All Access Pass, Planetside 1 is going free-to-play this April". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  5. ^ "The Revised SOE All Access Program FAQ". Sony Online Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 10, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  6. ^ "PlanetSide 1 Closure". June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  7. ^ "Man vs. Machine vs. First-Person Shooter World Record". Game Rant. January 31, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  8. ^ "1000-Player FPS Sets New World Record - UPDATED". The Escapist. January 31, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  9. ^ Savage, Phil (January 26, 2015). "Planetside 2 breaks world record for most players in an FPS battle". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 31, 2022.