MAG release date confirmed

Announcing the biggest online shooter ever, MAG™, exclusive to PlayStation®3 and available in stores 11th February 2010.

In a not-too distant future, you clutch your assault rifle and check your ammo for the last time. You and your squad have fought in battles before but none as large as this. As the enemy base in front of you shakes under the force of an air strike, your platoon leader gives the order and you prepare your squad to advance. An armoured personnel carrier punches through the enemy perimeter and you sprint for the gap with bullets whistling past your head. Your platoon leader goes down, picked off by a sniper. If you can survive this engagement, command of a 32-player platoon could be yours.

Welcome to the world of MAG™ from Sony Computer Entertainment Australia - a world of massive online action on an unprecedented scale, where 256 players take to the battlefield to win glory and the right to command squads, platoons and even an entire private army.

MAG is set to blow other online action shooters out of the water and Sony Computer Entertainment Australia are pleased to confirm that the game will be hosted locally, to support an optimal MAG online experience for Australian gamers.

Alon Isaacs, Director of Online Services, SCE Australia & New Zealand commented, "MAG brings simultaneous 256 player online play to PS3 for the first time. This challenges all elements of the online environment to deliver a responsive and quality experience for players. With 256 players all accessing a game server at the same time every component of the infrastructure from the Server to the database and particularly the network must perform optimally to ensure there are no bottlenecks."

"Like Killzone® 2, the global server set will include MAG servers based in Australia demonstrating Sony Computer Entertainment's commitment to do everything it can to ensure that consumers will get an optimal experience when playing this ground breaking title online."

Exclusive to PlayStation®3, MAG is set in a world where governments use Private Military Corporations (PMCs) to do their dirty work. Scores are settled by corporations including the elite, streamlined Raven and the brutal, intimidating S.V.E.R. You'll choose your PMC and join an eight-man squad to take to the field in a private army of 128 players. As you prove yourself, game by game, you can decide how your career progresses. You can specialise as a sniper, a medic, a scout an assault operative - or whatever else you find yourself to be good at under heavy fire. You can also move through the chain of command, earning the right to lead a squad, then a platoon, then an entire private army - customising your character with new weapons and kit along the way.

Free to join and free to play, battles will take place on PlayStation®Network between two PMCs of up to 128 players, divided into four 32-man platoons made up of four eight-man squads. Although it's a huge structure, a single person can always turn the tide of battle with an inspired action - and with ground vehicles, planes, sniper rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, parachutists and air strikes, you'll get to do it a different way every time.

MAG, only on PS3™, will be available in stores across Australia and New Zealand from 11th February 2010.

Learn more about MAG.