Planetside 2 PS4 Beta Hitting This Year, Aiming For 1080p/60fps

Though Sony Online Entertainment hasn't said much recently about Planetside 2's PlayStation 4 beta, the developer has now confirmed that it remains on schedule to launch sometime this year.

Creative director Matt Higby explained to Eurogamer that more information about Planetside 2's PS4 release will be shared during December's PlayStation Experience community event in Las Vegas.

The PC version of Planetside 2 is closing in on its second birthday. So what's taking the PS4 version so long? Higby says developers at SOE want the game to feel like a "full-on console experience."

"As much as it sounds like we're blowing smoke, we're working hard to release a game that feels like a full-on console experience and not just like a port" -- Matt Higby

"As much as it sounds like we're blowing smoke, we're working hard to release a game that feels like a full-on console experience and not just like a port," he said. "So it's taken us quite a long time to re-jigger our user interface and our controls. There's a lot that needs to get done."

Planetside 2's user interface needed to be reworked for the PS4's Dualshock 4 controller, and this has been no simple task.

"That's been a really large design process, and we've done a lot of iteration on it to try and make it right," Higby explained. "But our goal is at the end of the day to have our launch on the PS4 feel like a great PS4 native console game. Not just a PC port. So it's taking a while."

Also in the interview, Higby confirmed that Planetside 2 for PS4 will include microtransactions just like the PC version. He also addressed the game's graphics, saying SOE is aiming for 1080p/60fps. However, he said the developer is ultimately shooting for a "solid frame rate," which might end up being 30fps--though this has not yet been decided.

"From a graphical fidelity perspective, I think people will be very impressed with what they see on the PS4," he said. "That's always one of those things people are skeptical about. I see every time we post an article like this I always get called out: 'haha, it's bullsh*t that he's saying it's going to look as good.' It really does."

Finally, Higby reiterated that Planetside 2 on PS4 won't support cross-platform play, though he admitted this is technically possible, and in fact developers are doing this right now. Not supporting cross-platform play comes down to how SOE does updates and general platform exclusivity concerns. You can read more about it through Eurogamer's full interview.