Although not as prominent as Fortnite, PUBG is still alive and well in 2019

Before we had PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, creator Brendan Greene used to develop Battle Royale style mods for games like ARMA 2. One of his most famous creations was DayZ: Battle Royale, also the the mod is based on another mod. His battle royale mode was a huge hit, although it didn’t really explode until Korean studio Bluehole hired him to develop PUBG – PUBG set a Steam concurrent player record of 3.2 million. in January 2018. After that, a series of spin-offs were born, and one year, Fortnite, not PUBG, was the game that created a cultural phenomenon.

PUBG’s dominance seems to have ended a long time ago, but the game is still popular. In December 2018, PUBG Corp. share with The Verge that PUBG Mobile has more than 200 million players. Fortnite, on all platforms, then still had the same number of players. Although Fortnite dominates the media, PUBG has quietly gone up, and surpassed Fortnite in terms of players. And this number, according to The Verge, does not take into account Chinese players – they have switched to playing Tencent’s new version of PUBG called Game For Peace. In June 2018, PUBG Corp said it has more than 400 million players, 227 million monthly logins.

Despite possessing impressive numbers, the number of people on PC is continuously decreasing, according to statistics from SteamCharts. But it still ranks in the top 3, just behind Dota 2 and CSGO. From a positive perspective, PUBG is still thriving.

“In the beginning, we tried to explain what a battle royale is,” said studio director PUBG Corp. Brian Corrigan said. “We’ve been through a lot, but it’s great to see PUBG go from pioneering battle royale to becoming a stable game in the market.”

When the battle royale genre was new, players didn’t know what to expect. Early Access somewhat quelled high expectations from players, but things have changed now. Players have higher expectations, Corrigan said – rather than PUBG Corp. trying to explain what a battle royale is, the players are telling the developers what they want in the game. And what people want is often different.

One PUBG for all

Streamers and content creators both want a game that ensures entertainment comes first. “We currently have four main maps to explore, lots of different vehicles and weapons to play with, and a custom match mode for streamers to enjoy. [và] content creators are free to be naughty, disruptive,” added Corrigan.

Players competing in one of the official PUBG tournaments wanted a balanced, skill-focused game instead of random chaos. PUBG Corp. figured out how to tweak the game to meet every player’s requirements.

Overall, players on Reddit are pretty happy with Battlegrounds – and frankly, you’d be shocked to see a complaint pop up on the forums about the same issue.

Post after post, PUBG reddit always questioned the state of PUBG and almost always received positive feedback. Just last week, a post said the game was in “best shape,” with a Reddit user saying “a lot of streamers agree with this.” (PUBG is currently the second most watched battle royale game on Twitch, reaching 23,000 viewers at press time. Fortnite is of course at the top with 163,000 viewers).

PUBG has seen quite a few changes over the past year to get to where it is today. Last year, PUBG introduced the Survivor Pass (formerly known as the Event Pass) which is a leveling system for PUBG. Like the Fortnite Battle Pass, the Survivor Pass gives players exciting passes by completing missions and breaking achievement milestones.

Other users on Reddit said that PUBG gradually stabilized and Apex Legends gradually lost its popularity. “Apex has five minutes of its own. Similar to [Call of Duty: Blackout] And where are they now? Fortnite is back at the top while PUBG is nothing,” wrote another. “[Chúng] are games with different core values.” People are drawn to PUBG for its authenticity and tactical gunfights. It’s not as fast as Apex or as chaotic as, say, Fortnite, and that’s what PUBG is all about.

“PUBG was a brand new game when we first started playing,” said Richard Simms, PUBG caster and ESL talent manager. “Although not everyone likes it, the new maps and Survivor Pass create more highlights for the game, make it more popular, and avoid the feeling of losing in PUBG. It’s no longer the game everyone knows, but it’s all for a reason.”

PUBG now has more new maps, for a total of four: Erangel, Miramar, Vikendi, and Sanhok. All these new maps add to the difference, but it’s Sanhok that changes everything. It is very small, only half of the other maps. It also uses “dynamic circles” – analyzing how many players are still alive and changing its moves. If too many players are killed early game, the circle will be faster, eliminating the waiting time that often occurs in large maps. Instead of just changing the terrain, the map can determine how the game plays out.

“The experience of the game is very unique and we’re OK with that,” Corrigan said. “Being proficient in PUBG requires a combination of skill, experience, and perseverance. There are a lot of ways we can change the game to make it more accessible, but that’s not what we want to tell everyone and it’s not the soul of the game. We look at PUBG like it’s a low-key hit: it’s not hard either, but it’s not easy either, the game combines a lot of silly and weird things to make it interesting.”

Esports cheating and development

What PUBG Corp. Still thinking about cheating in the game. Since mid-2017, there have been 13 million PUBG accounts banned. Fifteen people were arrested in April 2018 for developing fraudulent software. And earlier this year, before the PUBG tournament just started, a lot of professional players got their accounts locked and banned from participating in the tournament due to cheating in the qualifying matches.

PUBG Corp. struggling with this problem. In February, the developer launched an anti-cheat program, part of a large campaign to “fix PUBG”.

Corrigan declined to share the daily player count in PUBG, but he said the game still has a steady and growing player base. “The market is more mature now, so we obviously don’t expect it to grow as rapidly as it did in 2017,” he said.

Much of PUBG’s stability comes from its structured competition system, which fully launched in 2019. PUBG esports features a variety of professional events taking place in 9 regions, including North America, The venue for the National PUBG League from a specially built studio in California. esports director Jake Sin says the 10-month competitive period is designed with consistency and stability in mind.

That requires players and spectators to invest in the future of PUBG. With 9 tournaments, fans have a stable schedule to follow. “The tournament system makes it easier for fans to follow and understand, as opposed to short-term tournaments,” Sin said. “Local leagues can develop loyal fans in the region for leagues and players alike.”

The important thing here is PUBG Corp. Invest in teams with a revenue sharing program. It makes PUBG more stable for participating teams, but only for some teams; Teams in PUBG League North America and PUBG League Europe benefit from this program, but others are not yet available. 25% of the revenue from the branded products sold of the tournament will be divided among the teams of the tournament, and PUBG Corp. It also helps with travel and accommodation costs, if necessary.

“The biggest journey that PUBG has to go through is finding a way to bring [battle royale] into esports,” Simms replied. “At first glance, battle royale is heavily random… but PUBG has added more rules and configurations to reduce RNG and make the game easier to manage. Not only that, we also thought of the best way for audiences to watch a 64 player game with map stream and new tracking tools, the battle royale genre is more than just teamfight and teamwork. It is a whole story.”

In the age of games as a service (player-oriented), players and fans expect a lot from games and tournaments – to take them to the next level, but that pressure is sometimes uncomfortable. PUBG Corp. understood this, and Corrigan told the team that they needed a lot more support staff to serve the people in the game. Last year was the developer’s “recruit mode”, and this year, players are starting to see the fruits of that. PUBG designers never sit idly by.

Corrigan said the leveling system and weapon proficiency added this year will continue to change and evolve in 2019. “Looking into the future, players will see more content and more support. more for competitive players in particular and espots in general,” added Corrigan. “In addition, we will continue to change our engine and work to provide a smoother experience.”