PCG UK indicates 2013 Launch

[Marsgrim]

The latest UK PC Gamer has a hands on play test report on PS2. Although NOT confirmed by the developers, the reporter indicates he thinks it will be a 2013 launch.

They've also taken it out of their 9+ month look ahead (it doesn;t feature on 3 or 6 month look aheads either).

[Mod]

Is the article just the same as the US one?

[SniperSteve]

Yeah, it is as far as I know.

[Fenrod]

I hope they just made a mistake. A HUGE mistake.

[FastAndFree]

Their guess is as good (or bad) as anyone else's

[atone]

i don't expect actual release til almost the end of this year. so theyre probably not that far off. beta will before that tho. yay!

[ringring]

Is the article just the same as the US one?
Yes it is, written by the same bloke and based on the same visit he did to SD

[DxC]

Its just a guess its as good as anyone's probably I do remember with Stalker a while ago they said it was going to be a year for launch and it came out 4 months afterwards

they put something down like most shops would do for a release

[Mastachief]

its almost may with no due date for beta a 2013 date for release is to be expected.

[Mod]

When we were hoping for a beta release in March, an actual release of 2013 seemed quite pesimistic. However, as we are still yet to see any beta news, let alone a date, a 2013 release date seems quite likely.

It is what it is, not really any more to say on the matter without more information.

[sylphaen]

NEWSFLASH:
Big PS2 news expected during E3 !!!
:evil:

[Gandhi]

Early 2013 might not be too far off the mark, since it's a F2P game we could be in for a long beta. Tribes: Ascend was only just officially 'released', but the beta has been running since November of last year.

[Kipper]

I'd guess November/early December if Beta goes well.

Even though there's no game to 'buy' for Christmas, good sense would be to have a game ready for those people who have time off work/school and who might have a bit of extra cash in their pocket for subscriptions and cash shop items.

[Stardouser]

I'd guess November/early December if Beta goes well.

Even though there's no game to 'buy' for Christmas, good sense would be to have a game ready for those people who have time off work/school and who might have a bit of extra cash in their pocket for subscriptions and cash shop items.

Won't the customary new CoD be out in November-ish?

BTW, I wonder if they've ever considered selling Station Cash game cards in places like Wal Mart(assuming they don't already). Planetside themed boxes containing a SC card that are placed in the Wal Mart PC game section would be perhaps a good idea.

[Hamma]

It's just an estimate based off what he saw, nothing more.

[The Janitor]

Meh, beta this year, all is well. :)

[SniperSteve]

I am guessing a December '12 launch, so '13 isn't far off that.

(And by launch I mean open beta - so it could be that the real deal will be launched in 2013.)

[Fenrod]

Well, Beta is ''in a couple of months''.

Assuming this means 2-3 months, let's say in July.
Then, 3 months again until the release.

April/May + 6 months = November/October.

Well, I guess.

[Lorgarn]

Sad to say that a 2013 release is not really that far-fetched. Though I must say that I sincerely hope that it's not the case. I'm really hoping for a late [Q2 Beta] and a late [Q3 Release].

[Tuomio]

Start of the beta and start of subscription period will be quite troublesome & stressful times for the staff, so i would guess the closed beta could start few weeks after summer holidays at the earliest and subscribers would definitely be either November or January, not December.

By looking at the ingame images, they still seem to have quite a lot of work still ahead, so summer beta would be pushing it. I wouldn't bet on even the 1/3 of the keyholders to get in the closed beta, only at the last "crunch" before going public so get used to waiting yet another year..:lol:

[ArmedZealot]

When Smedley announced they decided to do much more than just an engine upgrade, I knew it was going to take at least another 2 years. I think that was about 18 months ago. Right now they're still working on art assets, that tells you a lot about where they are with respect to beta.

Balance testing all the weapons, classes and skill trees is going to take many months with this game. I wouldn't expect release before Q2 2013.

I agree with this. Beta's have gotten longer as well for most new games and has become expected.

The amount of artwork is massive for a project like this. Especially when the shop matures enough for launch. Getting the gunplay right and fundamental mechanics down is required for this game to be successful and will require much work as well. I'm happy that they are taking their time with the important stuff.

[TerminatorUK]

For me it doesn't matter when the launch date is any near as much as beta.

Would be happy with a year of beta testing personally! (more updates done that way)

[ArmedZealot]

For me it doesn't matter when the launch date is any near as much as beta.

Would be happy with a year of beta testing personally! (more updates done that way)

Same here. :D I'll pay for it too just like T:A has done with their VIP packages if it means supporting the game and the devs. T:A has been very successful with their beta strategy and I would have no problems if PS2 followed this model.

[TOCS]

I don't care if I've to wait another year. We've seen how a rushed quite potential game went down the garbage can because it didn't get the time.

Give SOE all the time they need to finish this game, i.e. do it the Blizzard way (Diablo III).

[wasdie]

A 2013 "release" is expected at this point.

We'll see an open beta in late 2012. With free to play titles, "release" is usually pretty ambiguous as the developer can start making money off of players in the beta stages.

[SGTalon]

I sure hope i don't have to wait until 2013. I am dying for a good game to play. SWTOR really disappointed me... not as much as Star Trek online did...

I could have sworn that Smedley said that they were very close last Christmas!

The market is definitely wide open right now. I don't think there are many games that have more potential than PS2 on the horizon.

[Fenrod]

Well, at least, they'll have a lot of time to make the animations.

[Tapman]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20374995/keep-these-mmos-your-radar

Planetside 2 is summarized at the end, Beta reported to start "later this year."

[Warborn]

2013 sounds reasonable to me. I predict the timeline will be as follows:

E3 - Announce beta starting this Fall.
October - Beta begins to open gradually.
February - Open beta.
March 2013 - Release.

Possibly January open beta February release but that'd be pushing it.

I am dying for a good game to play.

Diablo 3 comes out in less than a month.

[Saieno]

2013 sounds reasonable to me. I predict the timeline will be as follows:

E3 - Announce beta starting this Fall.
October - Beta begins to open gradually.
February - Open beta.
March 2013 - Release.


My prediction is a little different.

E3 - They announce June 15th 2012 as the start of beta with limited invites going out.
August - Closed Beta is in full swing with all their closed beta invites out.
October - Open Stress Test
November - Open Beta starts and leads into Release.

December might be the release as well, but keep in mind that if they launch without a lot of the content it can easily be added later to show continued development.

[JPalmer]

They keep saying soon both for beta announcement and beta release. Soon isn't October or November. It is next month or June.

[Tuomio]

They keep saying soon both for beta announcement and beta release. Soon isn't October or November. It is next month or June.

Yes, it might be sooner than you think, ie. within 2 weeks as the saying goes..;)

[Lorgarn]

A lot of pessimistic(realistic?) thoughts here, suddenly my somewhat optimistic mindset feels a bit "out of place" so to speak.

I'm still hoping for a late Q2 Beta, especially since they keep saying "It's closer than you think". To me, that feels like a couple of months at the most, not 10 months.

[Malorn]

They keep saying soon both for beta announcement and beta release. Soon isn't October or November. It is next month or June.

Soon for a developer can mean years.

[Raymac]

They keep saying soon both for beta announcement and beta release. Soon isn't October or November. It is next month or June.

Except they've been saying "soon" since 2011. :lol:

[Kurtz]

Soon for a developer can mean years.
I'm telling someone "soon" as we speak. ;)

This game will be released on the 10th anniversary of Planetside.

[Bags]

Well, Beta is ''in a couple of months''.

Assuming this means 2-3 months, let's say in July.
Then, 3 months again until the release.

April/May + 6 months = November/October.

Well, I guess.

BETa has been "in the next couple months" since mid march. If that's accurate, expect a may beta imo.

[Destroyeron]

I'm just hoping beta is sometime before 2013...

[Fenrod]

Well I really hope so.

I'm craving for informations.

[JHendy]

Now I'm no sage or nothin', but something tells that me we can expect to see the beta within the next THREE to FOUR months. I'm leaning more towards the three mark. Late July perhaps?

[EVILoHOMER]

The game play we've seen so far makes the game look at least a year off. We've only seen one tiny controlled part and it looked super buggy, the sound design wasn't there, the net code wasn't there and the art work needs some work. I'm guessing they've showed the best most polished stuff so far so I'd hate to see the state of the rest of the game.

If SOE launch it this year then they'll rush another failed MMO....


I really love the new UIs though, the best UI that SOE has made for one of their games. So glad after the shockingly bad DCUO broken mess of a UI.

[sylphaen]

2013 sounds reasonable to me. I predict the timeline will be as follows:

E3 - Announce beta starting this Fall.
October - Beta begins to open gradually.
February - Open beta.
March 2013 - Release.

I second this with +1 month on all dates in order to land on May 2013 for release. 10 years birthday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlanetSide

[Bags]

Why would they say "we'll begin letting people in in the next couple months" and then not have beta till fall?

they were saying this late in march! Means april / may if they weren't lying or don't get held up.

[moosepoop]

if we get early beta i promise i will give sony many moneys

[Tasorin]

Smed's may have been at the helm when the SWG debacle happened, but he is no business strategy de-da-de. If you really look at what other AAA titles that are coming out in a similar time frame, SOE would be wise to strategically place the Live Launch in the lull of storms between games like Guild Wars 2, MechWarrior Universe, Hawken and World of Warplanes which all are using a variant of the F2P model.

One would expect Guild Wars 2 to come out either Nov. 12 or April 13 as those months coincide with NCSoft's fiscal mid-year and year end and are usually reserved for AAA title launches. All though Guild Wars 2 is using a pay for the unit and no monthly sub with a micro-transaction business mode and is a Fantasy based game rather then a FPS based game, it is going to be very popular and draw some away if PS2 was released right on top of GW2.

MechWarrior and Hawken are both F2P shooters and lack the persistent element that PS2 offer but MechWarrior's fan base is in my opinion larger then PS2's and is filled full of just as many die hard old gamers. The question is going to be does MW:U come out in Mid 4Q12 or does it get pushed to late 1Q13. MW:U is already running F&F Closed Beta and the next cycle of major invite closed beta will probably be this summer as well.

Hawken is much more of a Mechwarrior like game in a smaller persistent arena and is farther along then MW:U as of right now. I expect this game to be in Open Beta by the end of Summer and live launch in early Fall of 2012. Very similar F2P model as MW:U with a free client and micro-transactions being the business model.

World of Warplanes is already in Closed Alpha with a lot of invites already being sent out to players to participate. Global Alpha the makers of World of Tanks and World of Warplanes has already staffed up to 800 full time employees and is planning on adding another 300 through the Beta and Launch cycles. The F2P model for this game will be very similar to the World of Tanks model and is another F2P Shooter on the horizon for the end of 2012 and the start of 2013.

All that being said, I think a early 2013 launch right between the lull of these games would be right in Smed's wheelhouse and very typical of his year one business maximization strategies. Besides the longer Higgles and Krew take the more lush and dense Arauxis becomes and the more chance we have of getting all 3 Continents at launch.

PS2 is like a young fine wine.

The longer it ages in a properly corked and stored bottle the better the end product.

[sylphaen]

Why would they say "we'll begin letting people in in the next couple months" and then not have beta till fall?

they were saying this late in march! Means april / may if they weren't lying or don't get held up.

"Rough" estimates ?

We keep bullying them for beta dates so if a non-official approximate time range is enough to lower the pressure, it will be said.

What they try to say is that beta is for the near future and that things are still in motion. The good news being: the more time passes, the less there is to wait until beta !
:)

PS2 is like a young fine wine.

The longer it ages in a properly corked and stored bottle the better the end product.

Well said !

[Shlomoshun]

i could go either way on this.

On the pessimistic hand, when has an MMO ever had beta when it's fans wanted it to be. Never. They are always about 1 quarter or more late on beta, and 2+ quarters (sometimes years) late on actual release . Thus, expect beta in the summer/fall at the earliest, and on the pessimistic side a launch in Q1-Q2 next year.

On the optimistic side. They said a few months till beta back in March...they also distributed keys this month with PC gamer....I wouldn't think PC gamer would give them front cover press (in exchange for giving out beta keys) if the beta wasn't expected by May or June at the latest. What's in it for PC gamer to agree to that, and who's going enjoy getting all stoked to have a beta key, only to have to wait to use it for 3-6 months.... It would show badly on SOE's organization if it doesn't come sooner than summer after going for that sort of press.

Then there's the E3 hype being pushed by SOE. E3 is early June, which leads to:

Highly Optimistic: Beta would open in April/May and the big moment would be a launch announcement for somewher this summer. My Odds: 5%.
Moderately Optimistic: Beta opens at E3. My Odds: 70%.
Pessimistic: Beta start of sometime this summer is announced at E3. My Odds: 25%.

Also, the optimist in me says that beta could be a bit quicker than normal as they've already got a ton of data on faction balance from PS1. Think about it, they should already know how to balance much of the faction specific and common pool weapons/armor/vehicles at least to a moderate level of balance right out of the gate. Sure, that's only a small subset of the balancing issues, but its still a chunk of work they don't have to do that a truly new MMO would have to go through many iterations in order to get it all right...

Overall, I'd expect a Q4 launch, somewhere in October/November.

[headcrab13]

2013 is going to be a great year for gaming. Not that I'll notice anything launching besides PS2...