"We actually received a lot more survey responses than we were originally anticipating – it was a lot of feedback to go through for sure, but the overall sentiment was very positive."

How was the response from players in the game’s closed beta players?

Jim Lacorte, Project Manager, Kakao Games Europe: We actually received a lot more survey responses than we were originally anticipating – it was a lot of feedback to go through for sure, but the overall sentiment was very positive. The most mentioned topic was the cash shop, and we’ll be making a standalone post regarding paid products in the upcoming weeks. Looking forward to hearing your feedback.

What are your plans for additional beta periods before the game’s full western launch?

Lacorte: We are currently preparing a second Closed Beta Test set to run for a few days in mid-August. After CBT2, the next milestone is full release!

Elyon has been out in Korea for some months. Has feedback from your existing playerbase led to any changes that you’re making in the lead-up to the game’s western launch?

Lacorte: The short answer is yes, though it’s a bit more complicated than that. We’re absolutely making changes in certain parts of the game for the EUNA version, but at the same time our goal is to operate on a global build. Elyon’s content management system supports regional feature toggling which allows us to achieve both these goals – you can therefore expect major changes like class balancing and content updates at a pace close to Korea (once we’ve eventually caught up), while EUNA-specific changes are done on a per-content basis.

"We are currently preparing a second Closed Beta Test set to run for a few days in mid-August. After CBT2, the next milestone is full release."

The MMORPG space is tough to break into, especially given how many live games players have these days to pull their attention. What can you tell us about how Elyon sets itself apart from the crowd?

Sunwook Kim, Director, Bluehole: We believe the biggest strength and the most differentiating factor in Elyon is its active combat system. We are confident that players won’t be able to experience anything similar in other games.

How much of an impact does the choice between the Ontari and the Vulpin make?

Kim: The biggest difference is the direction of the story, but there is no big impact in your gameplay experience.

What can you tell us about Realm vs Realm battles in the game? What should players expect from these in terms of scale?

Kim: Our goal is not only focused in the scale of the content, but to provide an immersive RvR gameplay experience with a clear goal to win.

Once Elyon is out, what sort of cadence of post-launch players can players expect?

Kim: We don’t have any specific expectations as realistically speaking, we know there’s a lot of room for improvement. We will keep putting a lot of effort to make Elyon become a better game.

"We believe the biggest strength and the most differentiating factor in Elyon is its active combat system. We are confident that players won’t be able to experience anything similar in other games."

Do you have any plans to release Elyon on next-gen consoles?

Kim: No, we currently have no plans to release Elyon on next-gen consoles.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a title that caused the battle royale boom that’s still relevant today, has been doing fairly well for itself lately. After numerous issues before and after launch, PUBG Corp has settled into a groove with its seasonal cycle. Season 4 started recently with a remaster of Erangel among other new features.

But whatever happened to the team’s weekly update cycle? Speaking to PCGamesN, studio director Brian Corrigan talked about how the development team initially aimed for the same before settling into something more stable. “Last fall—and I said this before, publicly—but we were trying for this weekly update cadence. And it was one of those things where a bunch of us were like, look, we want to improve things as fast as possible. There’s some stuff that drives us crazy as players, and who’s going to fix it? Us! We’re the developers, we’ve got to go fix it, just because we ourselves want to play the fixed version.

“So we tried to crank out these patches on a weekly cycle last year, and it just really didn’t work out. If you’ve been on this side of game development before, that’s a pretty hard pace to keep to. So we slowed it down a little this year, and we’ve been doing smaller patches every month, and a bigger season schedule.”

As such, both titles fulfill different purposes in today’s market. Corrigan notes that, “We have a more high-intensity competitive game, we’ve got a functional esports program that we’re putting a lot of time into right now.” PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds earned $310 million in revenue last year so it’s clearly catering to its audience.

Corrigan isn’t above taking aspects from other games that could work for his studio’s title. At the end day though, PUBG’s formula is “unique.” “If there’s pieces [of Fortnite] that work for us, that’s great, because we should learn from the best teachers across a lot of different games, but our formula is unique. That’s something we understand, and we have to always remember: this PUBG formula is unique, there really is nothing else out there like it.”

The development team is working on improving its communication with players. Corrigan believes the change is already visible. “Hopefully people are seeing us do a bit of a better job on that—this year we’ve started to do more detailed patch notes, we started to have these dev letters coming out. Some of us, including me, are trying to do more community podcasts and interviews, things like that, and just, you know, tell people, ‘We’re human, and we care about the game as much as you’.”

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC, iOS, and Android.

Last year was interesting for PUBG Corp, the team working on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. According to its latest financial reports, it garnered $920 million in revenue, $310 million of which was profit. The split is even more interesting, with PC garnering $790 million in revenue while mobile accounted for $65 million, and consoles making up $60 million.

In terms of revenue, Asia made up 53 percent of the split. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad further added on Twitter, “That the reason that mobile revenue is low here is because Tencent obtained the license to develop and publish the mobile version.” Considering the Xbox One version received a fair amount of hype and has been a success for Microsoft, it’s interesting seeing the mobile version outpacing consoles in terms of revenue.

The other interesting bit is the gap between revenue and profit, which seems to indicate $610 million was spent. However, this figure almost certainly accounts for partner fees, platform licensing fees, esports prize pools, marketing, and development for multiple versions. Either way you look at it, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is still insanely popular despite the continued frenzy over Fortnite Battle Royale and rise of Apex Legends. Time will tell what this year has in store.

Note that the reason that mobile revenue is low here is because Tencent obtained the license to develop and publish the mobile version.

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) April 19, 2019

I assume $300m is also from platform/partner fees maybe?

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) April 19, 2019

PC players have been enjoying the snow-covered Vikendi map in Bluehole’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for some time now. However, it won’t be long before Xbox One and PS4 owners get their chance as well. The map will be going live on January 22nd for both platforms.

Vikendi is a bit different from the standard PUBG maps. As a 6×6 kilometers map, it makes for quicker matches than Erangel and Miramar. The addition of snow and ice ensures that vehicles are tougher to control. One of the cooler (no pun intended) elements is being able to track opponents by the tracks left by them in the snow.

Vikendi will also offer snowmobiles for easier navigation, so it shouldn’t be a complete slog. Other changes, including bug fixes and improvements, will also likely arrive with the map. Stay tuned in the coming week for more information, and head on over to this Steam post to learn more about Vikendi’s locations.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, also known as PUBG, has finally hit the PS4 a full year after it released on PC and a few months after the launch of its Xbox One counterpart. This is already an established game, with personalities and gameplay meta that have sprung up all around the title. So even if you’ve never actually played this game, chances are you’ve played something similar that’s spun off from it or at the very least heard of the title.

The premise of PUBG is simple: you drop into a large open land mass along with ninety-nine other players, scavenge for supplies and weapons, then do your best to survive. You’ll be taking out the competition with a wide variety of weapons, hiding when needed, tending to your wounds, and hopefully making it all the way to the end where you’ll be rewarded with a chicken dinner.

"Weapon handling is done in a realistic way, with you having to accomodate for recoil and bullet drop."

The landscapes you’re thrown into are absolutely massive and diverse, with some providing vegetation and others giving you a more urban environment to hide in. You’ll be able to find vehicles around as well in order to make your way around these maps quicker. Although, with the noise vehicles make, you may just end up making yourself a target for everyone within earshot. There’s also the ever-present threat of a rapidly shrinking out-of-bounds ring that will eventually kill you if you aren’t where you’re supposed to be. And if that doesn’t do you in, there’s also random bombing runs that you can find yourself caught in if you’re not careful. All in all, the world of PUBG is an obstacle to be overcome just as much as the other players are.

The game is easy for players to just jump into. There’s a tutorial server where you can go to learn the basics. Here, you can try out all the different weapons and practice lobbing grenades, riding vehicles, or parachuting to specific spots. The mechanics and controls of this game are pretty easy to wrap your head around after enough time. You can move about, sneaking or crawling when you need to, and can play the game with either a third-person or a first-person perspective. Along with jumping and melee strikes, you’re given all the tools you would need to survive in a life-or-death situation.

Although not all the controls are ideal. In order to aim down sights, you have to press the left trigger twice quickly. It’s not much, but sometimes this additional button press for such an essential function can end up getting you killed. You also have a menu system for picking up loot you find as well as using health- and energy-boosting supplies. This menu system is initially awkward to use. You get used to it eventually but there are some design choices, like the “X” button only picking up certain objects and the “Square” button picking up others, that never feels quite streamlined enough. It’s very obvious this is a system that originated on PC and that the PS4 had to make some compromises in order to fit PUBG’s control scheme.

Weapon handling is done in a realistic way, with you having to accomodate for recoil and bullet drop. There’s even options to zero out rifles you use, which should tip you off to the kind of long-range engagements you’ll primarily be going for in this title. Compared to something like Fortnite, this title is more methodical and requires more patience and setup for consistent play. All in all, this is a good thing since it gives PUBG its own identity and can also cater to players who like Fortnite’s battle royale concept but would rather have more gun mechanics instead of building.

"The moment-to-moment gameplay is the real selling point of PUBG."

And good news for those folks because PUBG is fun. You can go through this game on your own or with groups and there’s trade-offs for each method of play. Solo play means you only have yourself to rely on. But you don’t have to share any loot you find and you have a better chance of catching players off guard. Whereas with a group, there’s strength in numbers. But you have to only take a small portion of weapons you find and there’s a definite possibility of meeting a whole stack of enemies at a time. There’s also the option to play solo against other groups if you’re feeling particularly hardcore. The moment-to-moment gameplay is the real selling point of PUBG. You’ll spend a lot of your time running across fields and going through identical-looking houses but it all feels like it’s building towards something. Then once you finally find someone and wait for your perfect moment to strike, all that preparation before feels worth it.

Technically though, this game is rough. Those who are in the know are aware how taxing this title is on a high-end PC. And you’ve probably also heard about the disastrous launch of PUBG on Xbox One. Thankfully, the Playstation version has been given a little more care even though the performance is still nothing to write home about. I did play this title on a PS4 Pro which helped with framerate and a bit of a higher resolution, but the game still struggled. Texture pop-in is a constant thing and is probably at its most noticeable as you’re loading into an area and parachuting down. Textures can often not load in properly or end up clipping through other geometry, creating a very jank look to the environments.

The game in general is not good-looking. Everything had to be scaled down to accommodate the PS4 and that ends up leaving players with a pretty bland title. Player models are fine but the environment you move around is pretty low-resolution, especially vistas that are far off in the distance. This ends up actually hurting the experience since it’s easy to spot players far off when the environment looks so washed-out and barren. Lighting is an issue with PUBG as well. While everything looks fine while you’re outside, walking into a house for the first time is like having the gamma on your screen suddenly turned all the way down. This gives players who are waiting inside a huge advantage and usually ends with them coming out on top. There are also issues trying to find objects on the ground to pick up.

"PUBG is a fun game. The feeling of skulking about, tailing a mark for a few minutes, and then finally making your move and taking their loot is a great sensation."

Objects constantly blend in with the environment, whether that be with the hundreds of discarded cans littering houses or with a log next to a campsite. When you see how taxing having a realistic-looking battle royale game is for consoles, you start to understand why Fortnite picked its art style.
I’ll mention briefly the system of progression in this title. After games, you get points for performing well and after enough time you can spend them to pick up a loot box. You can also just buy boxes with real money if you don’t want to wait for points to tally up. Inside these boxes lies a cosmetic item. When I opened up my box, I got blue jeans. For players who are hooked on this game, the grind to earn another chance at a shiny new item will be enough to keep them going. However, for more casual players, I can’t see this really incentivising them to play more. To be fair, some of the cosmetics look really nice. It’s a shame that these cosmetic items usually get covered by armor and helmets anyway though.

PUBG is a fun game. The feeling of skulking about, tailing a mark for a few minutes, and then finally making your move and taking their loot is a great sensation. The more realistic weapon handling also sets it apart from other battle royale titles and helps make kills feel impactful. But as fun as it is, it’s not a perfect game. In its current state, the game functions but sacrifices graphical fidelity and performance in order to fit on the console. There are many gameplay problems that stem as a direct result of this compromise as well. So while PUBG is a fun experience, PUBG on PS4 is going to be a mixed bag for most players.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds may have fallen way behind its direct competitor Fortnite as far as popularity and mindshare are concerned, but as it turns out, its free-to-play mobile variant is doing very well for itself. Apparntly, PUBG Mobile’s total playerbase is equal to that of Fortnite.

This was confirmed to The Verge, who’re reporting that PUBG Mobile has 200 million users across iOS and Android devices. Fortnite, as you might remember, hit 200 million total users worldwide late last month. The report also mentions that both PUBG Mobile and Fortnite have 30 million active players every day. What’s interesting is that the numbers tallied up for PUBG Mobile do not include its massive playerbase in China, which would likely push it far beyond Fortnite. 

It’s also worth noting that these figures are for PUBG Mobile only, and not for the game’s console and PC versions. It goes to show that as a free-to-play title, PUBG has quite the backbone, as far as going toe-to-toe with Fortnite is concerned. Back in August, it was reported that it had hit 100 million total downloads, so its growth is impressive to see as well.

It’s a year too late, but the PS4 version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is here at last. At this point, what a battle royale game is well known, and you already get the basics somewhat. Or maybe you don’t, and this is your first battle royale game yet. Maybe you have played Fortnite, but don’t yet understand how PUBG differs. The good news is, we’re here to cover you—this guide has a whole lot of tips and tricks to do well at the game. Let’s get started.

• As always, once you land, make sure to try and find weapons right away. Unlike Fortnite, which at least starts you out with an axe, PUBG has you completely defenceless at first. Finding a weapon is crucial.
• Do not be caught outside the circle, ever. PUBG’s penalties for being caught outside the circle are far harsher than Fortnite’s, so you want to stay within the playable area at all times.
• Take off your shoes: you still run at the same speed without them, but you’re quieter.
• Holster your weapon when not using it. You move 6% versus when running with it in hand.
• If you ever get caught in a Red Zone by surprise, don’t give up! Look for a building to take shelter in right away. Try to stand under doorframes or in corners, because you are least likely to be caught in the line of napalm that way.
• On this note, always have your eye on the entrance when hiding inside a house in a red zone! Other players are likely to try to seek shelter there, so you should be ready to take them out if you have to.
• When entering a building, always close the door behind you. Leaving a door open is like advertising you’re in there, and inviting someone to follow you.
• PUBG has weapons, but it is highly advised that you not use them. While they can be fast and fun, they’re very loud, and in a game that is all about staying as quiet as possible, that can be fatal.
• Don’t get too attached to weapons and gear—constantly discard something that’s useless or less effective than something else, because your inventory space is limited.
• In general, try to stay away from chokepoints: these include places like bridges, or entries into compounds. This is because they will always be guarded, and trying to go through one means you’re asking to get shot.
• You can swim! Maybe try doing that, but be careful, because swimming makes a lot of noise…
• PUBG weapons have severe recoil, so either always use a scope, or use single and burst modes.
• Once you down an enemy, don’t worry about them. If there are any other enemies nearby, focus on them. Downed enemies have not be rescued, so as long as you are working on thinning the herd of attackers, they’re no longer a threat to you.
• Always try and have a helmet on—PUBG is a game where snipers will try to take you out at a distance (it’s literally a game that encourages camping), and helmets can protect you. Try and have a Lvl 3 helmet if possible.

LAUNCHING WILL ALL THREE MAPS

Since it’s Early Access launch in early 2017 to now, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has accrued a total of three maps. Erangel, which is the original map that the game launched with; Miramar, the desert map with a more urban focus; and Sanhok, the mountainous and forested map. When PlayerUnknown’s Battleground launches on the PS4 on December 7, it’ll do so with all three of these maps included.

NEW MAP THIS WINTER

That’s not it as far as maps in the game are concerned, however- there’s still more to come. Developers PUBG Corp. have already announced that a fourth map is also in the works. This map will be snow-themed and more frosty, to go along with the wintery season it launches in, and should make for a nice addition to the game’s roster of locations (hopefully, at any rate). Of course, this map will be launching on all systems together.

FULL LAUNCH

When PUBG originally launched on PC in March of 2017 and then subsequently in December of the same year, it launched in early access of both systems. However, on PC, the game received its full launch shortly after it arrived on Xbox Game Preview, while Xbox One owners also got access to the full release of the game in September of this year. When PUBG launches on the PS4, it’ll be a full launch- of course, it should be noted that the PS4 doesn’t have a program for games to launch in early access, which might partly have been the reason why PUBG didn’t launch on the system sooner. Partly– it did have a timed exclusivity deal with Xbox.

MAJOR FEATURES

This goes without saying, but since PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is receiving a full, proper launch on the PS4 right from the get go, it will also be launching fully featured. Custom matches, ranked systems, as well as the event mode- all of it will be included in the game, including everything else you can find in the game’s Xbox One and PC versions. Naturally, the game will also have Trophy support- but you already knew that.

PLANS TO IMPROVE

While PUBG is still massively popular, it’s popularity has fallen off considerably over the last few months. Sure, Fortnite and, more recently, Black Ops 4’s Blackout have had a hand in that, but PUBG itself has failed to impress several people with its lack of improvements and all the issues its accrued and failed to iron out. PUBG Corp., however, have stated in very clear terms that they have plans in place to “fix” the game, in their own words, with everything from quality of life improvements to visual upgrades. Of course, that’s something that applies to all systems, not just the PS4.

PRICE

Sadly, yet another reason that so many people seem to prefer Fortnite over PUBG is the fact that Fortnite is a free-to-play title, while PUBG is not (though it did recently join Xbox Game Pass’ ever-growing catalog). Which means if you want that chicken dinner, you need to cough up some cash first- which, of course, will apply to PS4 owners as well. When it launches on the PS4, PUBG will be sold at $30- you will have the option of purchasing it physically at retail, as well as digitally through the PlayStation Store.

VARIOUS EDITIONS

Other than the standard retail edition, which we’ve already discussed, and the Looter’s Digital Edition, which is also the standard edition of the game (but… you know, digital), there will be two other editions of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds that you can purchase. These are the Survivor’s Digital Edition and the Champion’s Digital Edition. As their names suggest, both of these cannot be purchased at retail, and will only be available through the PS Store.

DETAILS ON ALL EDITIONS

So what exactly do these two editions include, and how much do they cost? The Survivor’s Digital Edition will cost $50, and on top of the game, it will include the Vikendi Event Pass, 20,000 BP, and 2,300 G-Coins. The costliest edition of the game at $60, called the Champion’s Digital Edition, will include everything that’s included in the survivor’s edition, but with 6,000 G-Coins instead of 2,300.

PRE-ORDER BONUS

If you pre-order any of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds editions for the upcoming PS4 release, you’ll receive two special PlayStation-themed pre-order bonuses- the Nathan Drake outfit from Uncharted, and Ellie’s backpack from The Last of Us. Of course, both of these are purely cosmetic items and don’t really bring any actual boosts or advantages in the game itself, but for the Naughty Dog aficionados out there, these’ll be cool things to have in the game.

PS4 PRO ENHANCED

Of course, no one is surprised by this- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will also feature PS4 Pro enhancements at launch. Right now, all we know of these enhancements is that it will support HDR, and the developers haven’t really said anything about frame rates and resolution. While it’s possible that those enhancements might not be available at launch, looking at the game’s support for the Xbox One X, it’s not hard to imagine that it will regardless end up happening sooner or later.

Bluehole’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One was set to receive an update introducing graphical settings options for Xbox One X, and an FPP (first person perspective) field of view slider. Unfortunately, the update has been delayed. The development team is now targeting mid-December for its release. Content is currently being tested internally to ensure its stability upon release.

The same update also includes the Skorpion Machine Pistol, so you’ll have to wait till next month for that as well. A tentative update on January 2019’s content was also provided, discussing Region Renewal. This will allow matchmaking to ascertain the best region to play on if you group up with someone from a different region. It’s currently delayed due to “many issues”, but the development team is fixing these and testing performance.

The Rank System is also slated for January 2019, though more information is still pending on the same. On December 7th, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be releasing for PlayStation 4, containing all three maps currently available on Xbox One and PC. It will also have custom matches and Event mode at launch, along with Trophy support.

After months of reports and even a pre-order ad on the PlayStation Store, Bluehole has confirmed that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is coming to PS4. A new trailer has released, which confirmed the Battle Royale’s PS4 release date as December 7th. Check it out below and ponder how it’s going to possibly perform.

Along with all three maps – Erangel, Miramar and Sanhok – that PC and Xbox One players are enjoying, the PS4 version will also have custom matches. The Event mode and ranked system will also be present. Of course, PS4 players also get Trophy support. Along with a physical retail version and Looter’s Digital Edition that both cost $30, there’s the Survivor’s Digital Edition and Champion’s Digital Edition.

The former costs $50 and comes with the base game, the Vikendi Event Pass, 20,000 BP, and 2,300 G-Coins. Meanwhile, the Champion’s Digital Edition will cost $60 and offer all of the same content, but with 6,000 G-Coins added on top. If you pre-order any of the above editions, you’ll receive a Nathan Drake Desert Outfit from Uncharted and Ellie’s Backpack from The Last of Us for in-game use.