'PUBG' and Why It Is So Successful

There have been many entries into the gaming genre, that has affectionately been labeled as “battle royal” games, with early games like the Arma series, staying popular even to this day. But the success of a fairly recent entry has a lot of people paying extremely close attention to it.

Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds is a game developed and published by PUBG corps., an offset group from Blue Hole Studios and was based on a collection of mods created by Brendan “Player Unknown” Greene, the game’s director. The game is powered by the Unreal 4 engine, and hit the early access library on steam in March 2017.

But it was at that point when things got crazy. Within the first three days of its early access release, it made over ten million dollars and by May, was estimated at making over sixty million, earning its well deserved place among the heavy hitters, like Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

I know it seems kinda weird to talk about the gameplay, seeing as, it is the most popular game out right now, but indulge me. As stated before, PUBG is a battle royale game, where 100 people a thrown into an 8km x 8km (approximately 5miles x 5miles for all my standard friends out there) with nothing but the clothes on their back and the wits/instincts in their mind to guide them as the attempt to be the last man standing and read that definitive, if not hilarious victory screen.

Winner winner, chicken dinner indeed. And with three different team configurations, solo, duos, and 4 man squads, the game never feels old or stale.

The games’ popularity is incredibly evident, and far reaching, even branching out into other forms of media. Major celebrities play the game religiously, and even an homage to the game in a 2017 anime op from the anime Gamers!

The game is ridiculously fun, and dominates the livestream community by a landslide, and will most likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In my nearly 4 days of time played, I honestly can’t say that I have ever been bored while playing. But no matter how amazing the game, there will always be things that can be done better. In the future, a lot of people, players and fans alike, have stated that they would like to see more customization options, like crazy hair and gun skins, or vehicle decals. Or different game conditions like hurricanes with low visibility and more wind affecting the sounds around you and the bullets you, and your enemies, fire, forcing you to adjust your strategy and play style to adapt and overcome. Even separate game types like an “Ops” mode or introducing non-mandatory PvE content could attract even more fans to the already huge community.

The future seems bright for a game that is dominating every pool it dips its toe into. I, personally, can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this survival powerhouse!