Few games have suffered as rocky of a launch as PlanetSide Arena. The battle royal spin-off of MMO shooter PlanetSide 2 was originally set to launch on January 29, 2019, but it quickly found itself pushed back until March. However, after the closed beta, it was decided to push the launch back even further until summer. Now, after only 4 months in the wild, Daybreak Games’ are shutting down the servers before it leaves early access.
While our team set out with an ambitious vision for a game that combined the massive-scale combat and camaraderie of PlanetSide through a diverse collection of new game modes, it has become clear after several months in Early Access that our population levels make it impossible to sustain the gameplay experience we envisioned. - Andy Sites (Executive Producer, PlanetSide Franchise)
The full message can be read here.
The original roadmap of PlanetSide Arena was meant to have Superdome and Solos modes added to the game around this time. In addition to the modes, new guns, suit mods, and holiday events were also planned for release in quarter four of 2019. Quarter one of 2020 would have brought a guide system, Outfit vs Outfit Wars mode, advanced suit and gun progression, and aircraft to the game. And that’s all before the official launch in quarter two! The official launch would have been released across PC, PS4, and Xbox One, featuring new classes, a massive clash mode, and a massive clash map.
As of December 13, 2019, players are no longer able to purchase DLC or virtual currency. Players who have made in-game purchases in the past will receive a full refund to their Steam Wallet after the servers shut down on January 10, 2020. According to Steam Charts, PlanetSide Arena’s all-time peak player count was only 1,487 back when it launched in September. In October it dropped drastically down to 297. At the time of writing this article, the 24-hour peak is 7 players.
It is always sad when a game fails to find its place and ultimately gets shuttered. In this case, it’s especially sad since PlanetSide Arena won’t even be getting a hint of holiday cheer before it goes out not with a bang, but a whimper.
How do you feel about shutting down the game after only four months? Too soon or maybe four months too late? Let us know in the comments!
