PUBG's creative director Dave Curd explained that it was time for the studio to switch to a free-to-play model as it was the natural step to expand the community introducing more players to the universe.
PUBG: Battlegrounds became officially free-to-play now. The players who had purchased the game over the past five years will be upgraded to Battlegrounds Plus service, which offers additional competitive matches and private custom matches.
In an interview with GamesRadar, studio creative director Dave Curd talked about this move and claimed that "it is truly the right time" to expand the experience to a broader audience. "Our game is in a great place with eight maps, an engaged community, and our deep gun mechanics, so this is the natural next step and a great way to introduce more players to our universe. I know there are a lot of people who are interested in PUBG: Battlegrounds but have never gotten around to playing it for various reasons – now is the perfect moment to get started," shared Curd.
The director also explained that a freemium model is not a response to other battle royals like Fortnite or Apex Legends. "They're all great games which specialize in their own unique strengths, just as we do. We develop our game independently of others and are excited to see what is to come," said Curd.
The announcement that the game is switching to a free-to-play model was made during The Game Awards 2021 in December last year. It was said that PUBG would feature two tiers: a standard free-to-play account, which would allow access to most game features, and a premium tier, Battlegrounds Plus. Among the benefits of the latter one are: bonus 1,300 G-COIN, Survival Masters XP + 100 percent boost, Career – Medal tab, Ranked Mode, creating custom matches, and in-game items.
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