Well, it looks like that actually benefitted the game, as PUBG Studios recently shared via a press release that upon going free-to-play, the game experienced its biggest growth in years, at a whopping 486 percent increase in new players. The milestone is being counted for the PC player base, where the game is more popular than its console counterparts. In more detail, the developers mentioned the following:

“In the week following the F2P transition, the game saw a 486% increase in new players, outpacing its 2017 player growth rate. Furthermore, new user growth increased at a higher rate percentage (537%) in specific territories, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Southeast Asia, and South America. Additionally, the game has seen significant increases in average playtime when compared to the week prior to F2P, with average playtime on PC and consoles increased by 100% week-over-week while PlayStation players recorded a 400% increase in playtime.”

As of writing this article, the game has a 24-hour concurrent player peak of over 515,000 players. It might not be as huge as the all-time peak of 3,257,248 players from back in 2018, but at the same time, it is great to see that the title is having great success in its free-to-play iteration.

Of course, not everything is available free of charge. All players start with a Basic account and can upgrade to Battlegrounds Plus for $12.99. This provides access to Ranked mode along with the ability to create custom matches, access the Career medal tab and receive a 100 percent boost to Survival Mastery XP. You’ll also receive a Plus Transition Commemorative Hat, Bandana and Gloves along with 1,300 G-Coin.

According to the developer (via VGC), locking ranked behind a paywall is “partly aimed at giving additional benefits to those upgrading to Battlegrounds Plus, but the ultimate reason for restricting the use of some major content is to prevent cheaters. In the case of Ranked Mode, fair play is required the most as it is a fierce competition of players competing over Rank Points (RP). If anyone can play in a Ranked match without any restrictions, there are concerns about the possibility of an increase in potential cheaters as well as the possibility of banned players returning to the game easily.

“In addition, in order to prevent actions such as promoting unauthorized programs through creating custom matches, some contents are only available through Battlegrounds Plus. Anti-cheat is more important than ever as PUBG Battlegrounds is now free-to-play.”

It’s worth noting that anyone who purchased the game before it went free-to-play will automatically be upgraded to Battlegrounds Plus. They’ll even receive the “Battle-hardened Legacy” outfit bundle consisting of a corset, jacket, pants, boots and gloves. Stay tuned for more details on how effective the shift to free-to-play will be in the coming months.

Well, as rumours have suggested in recent months, that’s changing soon. At yesterday’s The Game Awards, Krafton announced that PUBG (which, ridiculously enough, is now officially known as PUBG Battlegrounds) is going to transition to being a free-to-play title on all the platforms that it’s available on starting January 12.

Those who bought the game will stall have access to the exclusive founder’s editions cosmetics but there’s no word on if PUBG will adopt a battle pass model to go along with its switch to being free-to-play.

Meanwhile, PUBG: New State launched a month ago on iOS and Android as well, while reports have also suggested that another new game in the series – possibly PUBG 2.0 – will be releasing sometime next year.

PUBG: New State will launch for mobile devices in over 200 countries around the world on November 11. Before that, there will be a final technical test for the game from October 29 to October 30, in 28 countries across Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

PUBG: New State is set in the year 2051, delivering a free-to-play battle royale experience in its near-future setting. The game will use “state-of-the-art rendering technology and a gunplay system on par with what’s found in the PC version” of the original PUBG. The game will also feature a “unique” player recruitment system, a drone store, weapon customization, and four maps, including the future-set Troi and franchise staple Erangel.

Developer PUBG Studios is also committed to maintaining a pipeline of healthy post-launch support, which will include “new content, improved gameplay, and a season-based service focused on gameplay balance and fun.” PUBG Studios and Krafton will also put various anti-cheat measures in place and will be banning “any unauthorized program, emulators, keyboard and mouse, and actively detect and restrict hacks to prevent cheating and protect the game’s code.”

Krafton also confirms that PUBG: New State has already surpassed 50 million pre-registrations.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty more in the works for the PUBG universe as well. PUBG and PUBG: New State will continue to be supported, while PUBG 2.0 and PUBG Mobile 2.0 are also in the works. Meanwhile, the upcoming sci-fi survival horror title The Callisto Protocol is also set in the PUBG universe, 300 years in the future.

Krafton, the holding company for PUBG Corp and the owners of the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds IP, said recently that they had plans for launching at least one new game in the series in the near future. That game has now been announced. PUBG: New State is a full-fledged sequel to PUBG Mobile, and it is set to launch for iOS and Android devices some time this year. Pre-registration for the game is open on Android, and will be going live for iOS devices soon as well. 

PUBG: New State is going to bring about several differences from its predecessor, but the biggest of these looks to be the setting, with the game taking place in a near-future period. The weapons and vehicles will also be altered accordingly, while we can also expect things such as items, the map, and more to see appropriate changes as well. That’s definitely what seems to be the case, going by the game’s reveal trailer- which you can view below. 

Meanwhile, reports have also indicted that a PUBG 2 could also be in the works for consoles and PC. The upcoming survival horror title The Callisto Protocol is also set in the far future of the PUBG universe. All said, Krafton definitely seem to have a lot of plans in the works for the franchise.