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
#Pubg free Pc#
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. PUBG maintained dominance of the battle royale genre until early 2018, when Fortnite: Battle Royale started to take off.When major alterations are made to established games, it's natural for entrenched communities to fear change.
The game eventually made its way to consoles like Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and initially cost $29.99 it still does, until the new free-to-play price kicks in. PUBG launched in early access in 2017 (though it was called PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds until this summer) and quickly gained popularity, rocketing up the Steam top games chart.
#Pubg free series#
The free-to-play version of PUBG is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC via Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
#Pubg free upgrade#
Players who have already purchased and played PUBG before its transition to free-to-play will get a special pack that includes a free Battlegrounds Plus account upgrade and special cosmetic items. The account upgrade comes with a one-time fee of $12.99, but the features are optional to the core PUBG experience This offers players extra currency, a Ranked Mode, Custom Match functionality, in-game items, and other bonuses. PUBG Studios made the announcement at The Game Awards 2021 on Thursday evening.Īfter PUBG: Battlegrounds becomes free-to-play, it will also introduce a new premium account called Battlegrounds Plus. PUBG: Battlegrounds, which helped battle royales become one of the most popular genres in gaming, is finally going free to play on Jan, 12, 2022.