PlanetSide Arena Early Access starts as free-to-play

Against all odds and even the original announcement, the PlanetSide Arena Early Access has started today without any barrier of entry. Everyone is able to download and play the new MMO shooter for free, since Daybreak decided to make a 180º turn on the business model.

PlanetSide Arena is a massive scale sci-fi battle royale shooter that you can play either in third-person or first-person perspective. The Early Access comes with Squad and Teams modes, with the former allowing 12-player teams, while the latter is for 3-player teams. Each match will support up to 300 players, but other upcoming modes will eventually raise those figures to 1,000 players per match.

You can download PlanetSide Arena on Steam right now to try it out. Here are some of its features:

• MASSIVE SCALE: PlanetSide Arena will feature 300-player game modes on a massive 64 sq km map at Early Access. Future modes capable of supporting up to 1,000 players per match will introduce scale unrivalled by any other multiplayer shooter.
• UNIQUE CLASSES: PlanetSide Arena launches with three initial character classes — Assault, Engineer, and Medic — each with their own unique abilities, utilities, and play styles. Each class ability has three upgrades that can be discovered in-match.  
• COMBINED ARMS: A broad selection of sci-fi vehicles – tanks, hover bikes, jetpacks, and more – expands upon traditional infantry warfare, offering teams the ability to quickly navigate the map, power-up, and overwhelm the competition. 
• ARENA GAMES: Launching initially with Squads (12 players per Squad) and Teams (3 players per Teams), PlanetSide Arena will expand to include a wide array of new match-based game modes, including Sunderdome, Outfit Wars, and Massive Clash, an intense base vs base conflict that supports up to 1,000 players in a single match.
• NEW PROGRESSION: Power progression plays a huge role in PlanetSide Arena matches, as players can acquire more powerful weapons and attachments through pick-ups and terminals with in-match currency. PlanetSide Arena also offers meaningful out-of-match progression, with unique weapons and armor mods adding new layers of character customization for each class.