PlanetSide 2's first beta for PS4 is on track to take place some time in mid-December.
While creative director Matt Higby teased during PlanetSide 2's anniversary livestream, this week, that an official date will be announced at PlayStation Experience next month, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley took it one step further.
Submitting for our first beta ( technical beta) in mid December for Planetside 2 on PS4. Game looks amazing.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) November 22, 2014
SOE has said for a while now that a beta would be available some time in 2014, but we weren't clear on the details.
I originally thought the beta would go live the day it was announced, on December 6th or 7th at PlayStation Experience. Now it seems the date will be announced at the big event, but the technical beta won't actually go live until a bit after.
During the livestream this week, Matt Higby and lead designer Luke Sigmund gave a brief overview of the status of PlanetSide 2 on PS4. Much of their update focused on the improvements made to the console version's user interface.
“Right now, the main work that’s happening is finishing the map and social features (friends lists, squads, platoons, outfits). That's the next push, figuring out how to get people communicating on console with very fast, quick interactions so that people don't have to go through 18 screens for a friend request," Sigmund said.
Unfortunately, it looks like SOE might come up a bit short in its goal for 1080p at a steady 60 frames per second on PS4.
Responding to fans, Smedley said there was "no way to keep it at 60 [frames per second]."
@AdamDelipper no way to keep it at 60. Don't want to set false expectations.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) November 22, 2014
@Coltrane03 @AdamDelipper zero way to pull of 60 in a game like this. Plays great though. Very smooth.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) November 22, 2014
For a long time now, we've heard that PlanetSide 2 was running "well over 60 frames per second" on PS4, but would get "bogged down" in really big fights. It sounds as though SOE would rather stick with a steady 30fps, then risk a variable 60fps in big-team fights. During the livestream, it sounded as though the dev team was continuing to work towards the goal, which does leave some room for optimism.
"There's been a ton of progress on performance, which has been our focus the entire time we’ve been in development," Sigmund said. "They’ve made some really significant games and I'm really optimistic about where we’ll be at launch."
