playerunknownsbattlegrounds
Latest
Popular 'PUBG' streamer faces ban for playing with cheater
There's no question that PUBG's creators want to crack down on cheating, but some players have wondered: is it really willing to go after superstar players if they play dirty? Apparently, the answer is yes. PUBG Corp has issued a one-month ban to Shroud (aka Michael Grzesiek), one of PUBG's best-known streamers, after a session where he initially complained about and then played with a cheater. The hacker both took Shroud around in a flying car and helped him spot rival players that were otherwise invisible. And did we mention that the hacker wasn't part of Shroud's squad, which is a bannable offense by itself?
'PUBG' creators drop lawsuit over 'Fortnite' battle royale mode
If you were hoping PUBG Corp's lawsuit against Epic Games over Fortnite would be a knock-down drag-out fight to determine which battle royale game emerges triumphant... well, you'll be disappointed. The PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer has dropped the South Korean lawsuit, which alleged that Epic was imitating its interface and in-game items through Fortnite's Battle Royale mode. PUBG declined to explain the reason for the change of heart (we've asked Epic for comment), but there are a few potential candidates.
'PUBG' celebrates 50 million sales with first Steam discount
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now enjoying its first Steam sale since launch. According to a recent Steam update, the price reduction -- a 33% discount which brings the price of admission down to $19.99 -- honors an important milestone: 50 million global sales.
The ‘Fortnite’-sized ‘PUBG’ map goes live Friday
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' third map 'Sanhok' will officially go live with a new patch on Friday, June 22nd. Its small-scale area (4km x 4km, a quarter the size of the other two and similar to Fortnite's map sizes) is expected to make for quicker games, and will come with a map-exclusive weapon that replaces the fan-favorite SCAR-L rifle. For now, Sanhok will be exclusive to the PC version.
PlayerUnknown believes ‘PUBG’ doesn’t need to beat ‘Fortnite’
Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene is in an unenviable position at the moment. His namesake game, PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds was the surprise hit of 2017, going from being an obscure work-in-progress game in Steam's Early Access section to racking up over $60 million in sales in mere months, averaging 2 million daily players on PC and getting a console port via the Xbox One -- all before it hit version 1.0. By all accounts, it looked like the game's continued success was guaranteed. Then Fortnite: Battle Royale happened. This week, Fortnite developer Epic Games announced that in just nine months time, its free-to-play spin on battle royale had accrued 125 million players. (Weeks earlier, PUBG's parent company sued Epic for alleged copyright violations.) But Fortnite isn't the only competition for PUBG. Giants of the FPS world like Call of Duty and Battlefield have announced they're joining the fray, and others will surely follow. Greene couldn't talk about the pending lawsuit, for obvious legal reasons, but when I spoke to him at E3 this week he was candid about the competition and his team's plans to differentiate PUBG from everyone else. Oh and to get this out of the way up front, don't expect PUBG to go free-to-play any time soon. Greene said that the team hadn't discussed it "at all." This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
'PUBG' War Mode comes to Xbox One in winter 2018
PUBG's PC-based players have already moved beyond battle royale with War Mode, so when do Xbox One gamers get their turn? It won't be too long. PUBG Corp and Microsoft have confirmed that War Mode will reach the Xbox crowd in winter 2018. As before, it's really built for gamers who prefer immediate firefights over the long buildup of the core game -- players parachute into a relatively small circle at frequent intervals already prepared to fight.
Microsoft discounts the Xbox One X for its E3 week sale
Microsoft is cutting the price of the 4K-friendly Xbox One X for the first time in what the company is calling its biggest Xbox sale of the year. All Xbox One models are dropping by $50, so the Xbox One X will set you back $449, while the Xbox One S costs $199 for the 500GB version, and $249 for 1TB. If you've been looking for a new controller, you can pick one up for $10 less.
All Xbox One 'PUBG' players can access its terrible second map
Whether you love it or hate it, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' second map is out of testing and available for all players on Xbox One as of today. If you're a fan of sniping, Miramar, with its focus on open spaces and elevation should be right up your alley. In addition to the semi-fresh play-space, today's patch brings a new revolver, a lever-action rifle and a sawed-off shotgun into the mix, as well as a handful of tweaks for game balance. Not a fan of the new map? Well, you aren't alone in that, but, you can always hope that the PC and mobile version's map selection feature is added in the next patch on Xbox One.
'PUBG Mobile' update adds Miramar map and more
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has finally dropped its 0.5.0 update for mobile, and it's pretty much everything we'd hoped for. A cut-to-the-chase tweet from developer Tencent revealed that the Miramar Map, progression missions, secret stash and local quick teams are all part of the new patch, which was rolled out over a period of extended downtime yesterday. Availability of the update depends on the region of your store, though, so you might not get it straight away, but unlike the last mobile update, it doesn't matter which operating system you're using as it looks like Android and iOS users will get the goods at the same time.
PUBG’s third map will open for all players to test this weekend
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been teasing its upcoming third map for a month now, and this weekend, players on PC will be able to test it out -- no invite required. The newly-named Sanhok (formed from the Thai word for 'fun' and the Tagalog word for 'chicken') features ruins and jungle inspired by areas in Southeast Asia. And like the game's unpopular second map Miramar, this one is a much smaller 4km x 4km -- just a quarter of the size of PUBG's original arena Erangel.
'PUBG' players can now pick which map to die on
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds players can now opt to avoid the much-maligned desert map, as the game's map selection feature is now available on PC. You can select which map or maps you'd like to play on, though there are currently only two choices -- original island Erangel and desert locale Miramar. It's not clear when the smaller map being tested will hit the live servers to offer a third option. If a player selects more than one map, the game will choose which to toss them into.
Blizzard and Epic take 'Overwatch' and 'Fortnite' cheating very seriously
Game-makers have had a field day making examples out of cheaters the past few weeks. Most recently, a pair of Overwatch hackers were charged in South Korea as a result of a year-long investigation by the region's police. Working with Blizzard (translated), the Seoul National Police Agency Cyber Security Department arrested a baker's dozen hackers total, according to Kotaku,
'PUBG' hackers arrested and fined in China for selling game cheats
Combatting hacking and cheating in online games has taken a serious turn for PlayerUknown's Battlegrounds developer Bluehole/PubgCorp. Over the weekend it was revealed that Chinese authorities arrested some 15 people for their roles in making and selling cheats for the online shooter, and the offending parties have been fined over $4.5 million (30m yuan). What's more, this doesn't sound like it'll be an isolated incident: the BBC writes that more arrests are expected as the investigation goes on.
'PUBG' players on Xbox One can test the game's second map
It's been tough times if you're a PUBG player on the Xbox One: while your PC counterparts have been getting a taste of the battle royale game's third map, you've had to make do with just one. Well, that drought ends shortly. The PUBG team is making the desert-themed second map, Miramar, available on the Xbox One test servers. You can download the latest test server release now, with tests running for several hours per day between April 25th (the 26th in Europe) and April 29th. Players who report bugs during these test runs have a chance to score in-game items.
PUBG’s furious arcade mode comes to mobile
The developers of Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) has been adding features to their popular battle royale game since launch, with a roadmap that includes new maps and more stable gameplay. A new map, Savage, started testing a few weeks back, and a brand new war mode shakes up the game play in custom matches. Now, mobile players will see some cool new tweaks, according to Pocket-Lint, including a fast-paced Arcade mode that's out on Android and likely headed to iOS soon.
PUBG tweaks 'zone of death' pacing in major new update
In its latest update, PUBG has tweaked gameplay to make it faster paced, more tactical and more violent. The main tweak to PC 1.0 Update 10 is timing in the "Blue Zone," a shrinking death region that forces players together as they die off. As many requested, it will contract at a faster speed early in the game, reducing the ability of players to linger and gather loot. At the same time, speeds later on have been slowed, with damage ramped up in the final stages.
'Radical Heights' is Cliff Bleszinski's free-to-play battle royale game
That didn't take long. After announcing that LawBreakers wasn't living up to expectations (and making enough money), and teasing a new project on Friday, developer Boss Key has revealed the "passion project" it teased. Try to feign surprise when you find out that it's a free-to-play battle royale game. On the surface, Radical Heights stands out from the crowd with a vibrant, quasi cel-shaded, retro-futuristic game-show vibe that hearkens back to the '80s. Meaning, there are a lot of extreme pastels and hot pink triangles complementing its over-the-top Saturday morning cartoon tone.
'PUBG' moves beyond battle royale with War Mode
The PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds team is now clearer about their plans to add game modes beyond the signature battle royale and zombie games. The developer has revealed that it's experimenting with a War Mode that behaves more like the conventional deathmatches in other games rather than PUBG's last-one-standing formula. You get a submachine gun right off the bat, and it's not over when you die -- teams keep respawning until one of them reaches 80 points through a combination of kills, knockdowns and revives. It shouldn't be as frustrating for rookies (who may die seconds into a battle royale if they're not careful), and could be faster-paced given that players won't have to scramble for guns to start fighting.
'PUBG' will start testing its tiny 'Savage' map next week
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds continues to ramp up the changes as it fights back against Fortnite for the battle royal crown. One part of the plan that we'd already heard about is a smaller map option called Codename: Savage measuring at 4x4 Km, which is just a quarter of the size of Erangel and Miramar, the two maps already included in PUBG. The smaller play area should add even more tension to the game's fast-paced action.
‘PUBG’ Event Mode offers limited-time custom games
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has announced the debut of Event Mode, which will introduce temporary changes to typical gameplay. The developers described Event Mode "as a periodically changing preset Custom Game where we will be trying new things and experimenting with different game parameters." It'll offer Battle Royale experiences you can't get in public matches and feature new content, most of which will only be playable for a limited time.
