Planetside 2's long-term plans for user-generated content

Planetside 2 creative director Matt Higby discusses the future of the game's user-generated content initiative, as well as the upcoming PlayStation 4 version.

Ozzie Mejia

July 1, 2013 2:00 PM

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Auraxis is a massive world, but for those Planetside 2 players itching for more, Sony Online Entertainment will soon have them covered. While it's not set to come any time soon, creative director Matt Higby recognizes the appeal of user-generated content. During last weekend's MLG Spring Championships in Anaheim, he laid out the long-term plans for custom creations to Shacknews.

"Longer-term, our plans for user-generated content are allowing players to do things like build their own bases on continents," Higby explained. "Maybe a continent that's empty and requires players to go out there and gather or consume resources to be able to place bases."

Higby says that those are more ambitious, longer-term goals that aren't actively in development at the moment. Something Higby says is coming much sooner is Planetside 2's jump into Player Studio, Sony Online Entertainment's creation tool that currently allows item creation in EverQuest and FreeRealms.

"Player Studio is something we have across our entire portfolio of games," Higby added. "Essentially, you, as a player, can create new helmets or skins for weapons. Send them to us and if they look cool and they pass the art director's muster, then we put them in and people can download them and use them in the game. And you, as the artist, receive a portion of our sales that we get for those."

I asked Higby if certain groups of players could create their own custom decals and submit them for use. Higby answered that Player Studio would, in fact, allow for such customization.

"The idea of players being able to create their own decals to use for their Outfit is definitely a piece of Player Studio," said Higby. "User-generated content is just something we want to do broadly. When you're making MMO games, giving players more ways that they can 'own' the game is really key. It's really important and something that we, as a company, have been driving towards for a long time."

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?