And, as Curd says, this is just the beginning. With its tense shootouts, heavier gunplay, and varied maps, PUBG still offers a nice contrast with what we're seeing elsewhere in the genre. The battle royale leans further into realism than its competition, forcing tactical thinking and careful movement, should you want to be the last player standing.
As competitive as Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite can be, they are far more forgiving than PUBG. I'm keen to see how PUBG: Battlegrounds weathers an influx of new players.
All those who have already bought our game receive a Commemorative Pack which includes a free Battlegrounds Plus upgrade where they can enjoy ranked mode, create custom matches, and collect in-game skins and G-Coin – as well as other benefits," says Curd, noting that new players will need to pay $12.99 to get access to Battlegrounds Plus. "We think it is only fair to give a little extra to fans who have purchased PUBG: Battlegrounds before we transitioned to free-to-play. It contains a handful of unique cosmetics and free access to Battlegrounds Plus.
As a thank you to all survivors who braved Erangel, and the maps that launched since, PUBG Corp has designed a commemorative pack as a thank you. PUBG: Battlegrounds is now free-to-play on all platforms, perhaps its most significant change since the battle royale entered Steam Early Access back in March 2017. "The battle with cheaters continues as PUBG: Battlegrounds enters the free-to-play world," the anti-cheat team continues, "but we are dedicated and doing all we can to ensure that you not only hear about, but feel the effects of our anti-cheat solutions for yourselves." A new beginning Cheaters remain a blight on the free-to-play games market, and one of PUBG's biggest challenges won't be satiating a new player base, but ensuring that the scales remain balanced. The studio recently explained that, during the August Free Play Week, the "ratio of suspected cheaters spiked after the event started, but eventually recovered and settled in line with the numbers we had before the event." That's a promising sign. There are still questions surrounding Zakynthos, PUBG Corp's proprietary anti-cheat solution. "The sentiment and feedback we saw during the 'Free Play Week' only bolstered our decision to make a permanent transition to free-to-play." While a lot of the new updates have been cooking for some time," says Curd, pointing to tactical gear and action queuing, which have long been in development.
"We saw a lot of success and an influx of new players when we held 'Free Play Week' last year, and we tapped into their experiences to help inform the direction we’d ultimately take when transitioning to a free to play model. In August 2021, PUBG: Battlegrounds had a week of free play it was rumored at the time that this was a test run for a permanent free-to-play offering, which we now know was the case. It's worth remembering that PUBG Corp has tested extensively for this inevitably. "We think it is only fair to give a little extra to fans who have purchased PUBG: Battlegrounds before we transitioned to free-to-play" Dave Curd, creative director
Curd says "the health of our servers won't be impacted" by the switch into free-to-play, adding, "as ever, we will be monitoring and updating them regularly when we need to." Given that PUBG: Battlegrounds has sold more than 75 million copies across PC and console to date, making it one of the best-selling games of all time, you have to hope that it'll be able to withstand the pressure. We've developed amazing tutorials for newbies and will have a brand new shooting gallery, which I think is going to be a big hit."Ī natural community concern is the stability of servers, and whether they will withstand the influx of new players. We are ready to welcome new players with open arms and help them hit the ground running. The creative director points to the addition of new gameplay features, and the introduction of Tactical Gear, action queuing, and a revamped tutorial system as examples of what this evolution will look like in the short term.Ĭurd says that going free-to-play "is going to grow our community, which is always a positive thing.
Curd is quick to affirm that "despite the transition, the core game is still the core game", adding that PUBG Corp sees this as an "opportunity to continue to evolve" the central Battlegrounds experience. When major alterations are made to established games, it's natural for entrenched communities to fear change.