It’s a bit out of date, since it refers to the launch of Escalation as if it were happening today (MMO players have known about the delay for quite a while now), but there’s a new PlanetSide 2 interview up on Polygon this week.
PlanetSide 2, of course, is operated by the newly designated Rogue Planet Games, one of a trio of new substudios spun off from (but still apparently fully under) Daybreak earlier this year. At Rogue Planet’s head is Executive Producer Andy Sites, who walks back rumors that PlanetSide 3 is in production – rumors that began in 2018 and then were reignited by Sites himself last fall when he penned a letter to the community describing what PlanetSide 3 might look like in the context of PlanetSide Arena being a “stepping stone” between the games. Of course, we all know where PlanetSide Arena ended up after that. (If Sites was asked about the still-fresh death of PSA, it’s not actually in this interview.)
“I did not officially announce that PlanetSide 3 was in development,” Sites now tells Polygon, which is technically true in the same way that your little brother putting his hand one inch from your arm and declaring “I’m not touching you!” is technically true.
“Like all games and franchises that have been running for almost 17 years like PlanetSide, we’re always thinking about the future. We’re not by any means ready to start talking about PlanetSide 3 in any sort of extensive detail. […] Our emphasis is really shoring up PlanetSide 2. […] There will be no PlanetSide 3 if we don’t continue supporting PlanetSide 2, and we don’t continue showing that the PlanetSide experience is unmatched and amazing.”
Like DC Universe Online’s Jack Emmert in his interview earlier this week, Sites wouldn’t commit to Daybreak as the publisher of his substudio’s future games, saying that “ideally” Daybreak would publish the game he totally hasn’t announced yet, but “if there’s alternate means of publishing, and Daybreak’s okay with that, then we’re good to go as so long as that means we’re able to continue delivering what we want to with PlanetSide.”
Escalation is now due out on February 26th, and well-earned snark for Daybreak’s shenanigans aside, the update actually sounds really meaty, with new content aimed at all levels, a revamp of the outfit (guild) system and outfit wars, the arrival of the Bastion Fleet Carrier, the Sanctuary social hub, and gobs more.
In other PlanetSide 2 news, Sites announced on Twitter that Russian and Chinese localization for the game is indeed on the way – another good sign for fans who want to see the game growing.
FYI – we've made the decision to officially move forward with both formal Russian and Chinese translations for @planetside2 – I hope to communicate a time-frame later this week for when players should expect to see these on Live servers. Likely 4-6 weeks from start to finish https://t.co/C5B39rHAaE
— Andy (@AndySites) February 18, 2020
