During The Game Awards 2021, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds announced that the game is finally going free to play, giving players a chance to land into the original battle royale at no cost. Since its launch in 2016, PUBG has evolved tremendously, having received a plethora of updates, maps, and new features, and has sparked two spinoff games including PUBG: New State and PUBG Mobile. In many ways, the game ignited the battle royal genre, preceding popular titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone.
Though most of its competitors have always been free to play, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds originally launched on Steam at $29.99, with only the occasional sale deflating the price. And while its mobile counterpart, PUBG Mobile, is a free-to-play alternative, the PC and console build of the game has maintained its premium status. But since the post-apocalyptic spinoff game PUBG: New State recently received its November 11 release date, Krafton, PUBG’s parent company, has made some big changes to the game’s price tag.
In an advertisement during TGA 2021, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds announced that it’s finally going free to play. “Five years, eight maps, [and] 14+ billion hours played, the original battle royale enters a new era,” the advertisement announced, claiming players will be “free to land, free to loot, [and] free to survive” starting January 12, 2022. Fans can pre-register starting now at pre-reg.pubg.com, where they can also receive in-game rewards for inviting friends. It wasn’t clear if the free-to-play era also included PUBG: New State, though there was no mention of the game in the advertisement or pre-registration website.
PUBG: Battlegrounds’ spinoff PUBG: New State launched globally for iOS and Android with new mobile rendering technology and gunplay that is said to have put it on par with its PC counterpart. With new features, four unique maps, and regular updates – all for free – the mobile battle royale amassed 50 million pre-registrations, which demonstrated the impressive size of the mobile free-to-play market and the ongoing popularity of the battle royale genre. It’s likely that the success of PUBG: New State propelled Krafton’s decision to make even PUBG’s PC and console ports free to play.
Free-to-play battle royales like Apex Legends have continued to dominate the gaming market, maintaining no-cost gameplay by utilizing premium battle passes and purchasable vanity items. The model has worked for Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends, and given the success of PUBG: Mobile and PUBG: New State, it is about time PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds goes free to play. PUBG has already built in a premium battle pass system that rewards progression and players can purchase battle pass levels through the Steam Store. It's unclear if Krafton will expand upon its profit-earning formula or if the battle pass system will remain as-is.
PUBG: Battlegrounds is available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia.
Source: TGA 2021/YouTube