PlanetSide 2 is a free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online FPS that delivers truly epic, massive combat! Battles take place not between dozens of troops, but thousands; with air and ground vehicles slugging it out alongside squads of troops. Whether in open fields, tightly packed urban centers or enormous structures, planning, teamwork and communication are essential.

PlanetSide 2 features incredible continent maps with dozens of square kilometers of seamless gameplay space; every inch of which is hand-crafted, contestable space. With the territorial control meta-game, landmass has intrinsic value.

PlanetSide 2 is a re-imagining of PlanetSide, featuring the same world and factions, and taking place at roughly the same time period. As in the previous game, it features territory control in an open-world, large battles featuring up to 2000 players per continent on foot or in land/air vehicles. The territory system differs greatly from that of the original, being more free-form and based on a hexagonal territory control system. SOE has been taking into account balance issues from the first game. As stated by creative director Matthew Higby, they reward combatants on lower population empires through mechanics such as proportionally increased advancement rates and resources to aid the balance of overall empire saturation on each server as much as possible without force-restricting players from being able to play with their friends.

The game also features a day and night cycle, meaning that battles happen in different times of day, affecting the general methods for warfare.

Combat takes place on the continents of Auraxis which are broken up into many territories. Control of territories can provide bonuses to a faction in adjacent sectors. The mission system is partly automated and partly controlled by players. It provides focal points for players to attack and defend and helps players get into the action quickly.