Planetside 2 is one of the oldest MMO shooters and still attracts thousands of players daily. Currently, the game is experiencing a small surge on Steam. But what is the reason for this and what new features are yet to come?
Update March 11: Today the new major patch for Planetside 2 was released, and you can enjoy the new content. You can find the complete patch notes on the official website.
We will see how the patch affects player counts in the coming days.
How many people are playing Planetside 2? Currently, the MMO shooter has an average of 2,344 players per day on Steam and peaked at 4,176 players in February. Such numbers were last reached by Planetside 2 in May 2016.
Since then, the numbers have generally remained well below 2,000 daily players, with a low point in October 2019. At that time, only an average of 1,072 people were playing the shooter.
However, the actual player counts are likely to be much higher. PlanetSide 2 can be played on its own client and also on the PS4 console in addition to the PC.
What is causing the increase in players? The “Empire Strength” update was released on January 15, which has already made some small changes and balance adjustments. It was the first update for both platforms (PC, PS4) since the release of “The New Soldier” in April 2019. At that time, a new faction and better tutorials were introduced to the game.
The update in January was positively received by players. In the last 30 days, PlanetSide 2 has received 2,305 reviews on Steam, with a remarkable 93% of them being positive.
This small update was only a preparation for the major patch in the first quarter of 2020, named “Escalation”. It is expected to significantly change the game, and anticipation for it is high.
Content for Every Player Type
What does the new update bring? PlanetSide 2 is set to change significantly with Escalation. The update brings something new for every player type, whether a beginner or a veteran:
- New monthly challenges in the form of Outfit Wars
- New War Assets that you can craft and use in battle
- New leveling opportunities through a loyalty level
- A new social hub where players from all factions can meet
- The new Bastion Fleet Carrier, massive battleships that can engage in combat
When is the update being released? Escalation was originally scheduled to be released on February 19. However, the patch was postponed so that “one of the largest updates since the release in 2012” could be launched without major bugs and immediate hotfixes. This was described by Executive Producer Andy Sites in a message to the community (via PlanetSide).
The update is now set to be released on March 11.
