PUBG Showed Massive Player Growth After Switching to F2P
PUBG going free-to-play has paid off significantly. The game became top-ranked on Steam with the number of new players increasing by 486%.
Krafton announced that the number of PUBG: Battlegrounds players showed the best growth in recent years after the company's decision to transition the battle royal to a free-to-play model. The game became top-ranked on Steam with the player count peaking at 690,000 total active players.
Within a week after switching to F2P, the number of new players in PUBG: Battlegrounds increased by 486%, according to the company, exceeding the growth rate of players in 2017. In some regions including Southeast Asia and South America new user growth hit 537 percent.
Besides, the average playtime has significantly increased compared to the week preceding the transition to the new model: by 100% on PC and Xbox, and by 400% on PlayStation. Currently, the number of PUBG players is over 351,000, with a 24-hour peak of over 505,000.
The most played content in the game turned out to be the tutorials while the most popular maps were Taego and Erangel. To celebrate the milestone, Krafton rewards players with special content, as long as they play for at least one hour between 4 p.m. Pacific on January 28 and 3:59 p.m. Pacific on January 30. Those who will log in before February 17 will get the new Orbital Vanguard skins.
PUBG: Battlegrounds switched to a free-to-play model on consoles and PC on January 12, 2022. The news came along with introducing Battlegrounds Plus, an optional premium account that allows players to access multiple exclusive in-game features.
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