'Planetside 2' PC Version Sets World Record For Most Players In FPS Battle

Sony Online Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online game “Planetside 2” set a world record on Saturday for having the most players online in a single first-person shooter battle – and the game is still in its closed beta phase.

"'Planetside' held the original record for this achievement, and we're thrilled to have officially taken it back with 'PlanetSide 2'," David Carey, the producer of the game, said in a press release. "It's truly the players who define the game, and we'd like to extend a congratulations to our players for reaching such an accomplishment nearly every night."

On Saturday, Sony Online Entertainment partnered with player-driven community PlanetSideBattles for an in-game match between all three “Planetside 2” empires – Terran Republic, Vanu Sovereignty and New Conglomerate. This resulted in 1,158 players joining in one game via the title’s Jaeger competitive server. The previous record for most players online in a battle, set in 2012, was “Man vs. Machine,” which had 999 players compete at once.

"This amazing achievement shows not only how truly massive the 'Planetside 2' universe is but also how inclusive its online community is," said Annie Nguyen, video games records manager at Guinness World Records.

“Planetside 2” features open-world, large-scale battles of up to 2,000 players. There are six player classes in the game: the Infiltrator, Light Assault, Combat Medic, Engineer, Heavy Assault and MAX. The game launched its closed beta on Jan. 20 for the PlayStation 4 but originally released its PC version in 2012.