PlanetSide 2 Beta Starting Soon

Sony Online Entertainment will begin public testing of their MMO shooter PlanetSide 2 soon. SOE president John Smedley said that they're waiting on the results of a tech test starting this week.

Smedley chatted about the beta earlier today on Twitter. He declined to say when it would begin. The game's due to launch later this year, though, so the beta can't be too far away.

He added that it would grow slowly over time. Active subscribers from the first game will get in first. The ultimate goal is that eventually everyone will get access.

In PlanetSide 2, three factions battle over control of the planet of Auraxis. Hundreds of players will be able to battle it out simultaneously. You can fight on foot or pilot a land or air vehicle

PlanetSide 2 will ultimately be free-to-play. An optional cash shop will sell customization items and other optional equipment. This business model has been used to success with several other SOE games, including DC Universe Online and EverQuest.