Being a pioneer in a certain field is hard, but it's much harder to maintain yourself at the top as time progresses. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, widely known as PUBG, is one of the precursors and one of the games that contributed more to popularize the battle royale genre in its beginnings. The arrival of Fortnite was the final piece that made the genre one of the preferred by players, and now the number of battle royale games is too big to count. It's so popular that a battle royale mode is now a common addition to most FPS series that didn't have one before. Long-time hits of the genre have had to adapt to the new times, and you can find games like Call of Duty Warzone with millions of players. One of the keys to their success is that they follow a free-to-play model, and that's probably the main reason why PUBG has been left behind in the race for the top position among battle royale games.
But it seems that it's time to adapt to the new situation, and developer PUBG corporation has finally decided to launch a free-to-play version of PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS across all platforms. You can watch the launch trailer of the new version below:
Although it's true that PUBG had not disappeared from the radar in recent times, the game was not the main option to consider when looking for a battle royale. Having to buy a game to play when you have many other free options at hand is always hard, but the new version comes to fix that. The effect has been immediate, and the number of concurrent PUBG players on Steam has doubled since the new version has launched. The current number of players is still quite far from the ones achieved in the past, but the increase demonstrates that the game has potential as a new competitor in the free-to-play battle royale arena.
It will be quite a hard competition, as the number of games following a free-to-play model has increased exponentially over the years. For example, it's possible to join an exciting multiplayer experience in games like Warzone and Halo Infinite, and still add more gameplay options and PvE content by buying Call of Duty: Vanguard and Halo Infinite (Campaign), respectively. Therefore, it is yet to be determined if PUBG will maintain the current growth in the long term.
If you already own PUBG and you are thinking of returning to the game, your account is automatically upgraded to Battlegrounds Plus, which gives you an XP boost, in-game cash, and several cosmetic rewards.
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