During The Game Awards 2021, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds revealed that the game is now free to play, allowing players to jump into the original battle royale for free. Since its initial release in 2016, PUBG has expanded immensely, receiving a slew of patches, maps, and new features, as well as spawning two offshoot games, PUBG: New State and PUBG Mobile. In many ways, the game pioneered the battle royale genre, paving the way for popular titles such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone.
Though most of its competitors have always been free to play, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was originally priced at $29.99 on Steam, with only the rare promotion lowering the price. While its mobile equivalent, PUBG Mobile, is a free-to-play option, the PC and console versions of the game have retained their premium status. However, since the post-apocalyptic offshoot game PUBG: New State’s November 11 release date, Krafton, PUBG’s parent company, has made some significant adjustments to the game’s price.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds confirmed its free-to-play status via a promo during TGA 2021. “Five years, eight maps, [and] 14+ billion hours played, the original battle royale enters a new age,” the advertisement stated, saying that players will be “free to land, free to loot, [and] free to survive” beginning January 12, 2022. Pre-registration is now open at pre-reg.pubg.com, where fans can also earn in-game incentives for inviting friends. It was unclear whether PUBG: New State was included in the free-to-play timeframe, given there was no mention of the game in the advertisement or on the pre-registration website.
The sequel to PUBG: Battlegrounds PUBG: Improved State was released globally for iOS and Android, with new mobile rendering technologies and gunplay that is touted to be on par with the PC version. With new features, four unique maps, and regular updates – all for free – the mobile battle royale amassed 50 million pre-registrations, demonstrating the magnitude of the mobile free-to-play market and the battle royale genre’s enduring popularity. It’s likely that Krafton’s decision to offer PUBG’s PC and console ports free to play was influenced by the popularity of PUBG: New State.
Free-to-play battle royales like Apex Legends have continued to dominate the gaming market by employing premium battle passes and purchasing vanity goods to maintain no-cost gameplay. The concept has proven successful for Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends, and with the success of PUBG: Mobile and PUBG: New State, it’s about time PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds go free to play. PUBG already features a premium battle pass system that rewards progression and players can buy battle pass levels from the Steam Store. It’s unknown whether Krafton will expand on its profit-making strategy or keep the battle pass system as is.
