PUBG Has Its Sights Set on Fortnite as It Aims to Become “A Global Cultural Icon”

PUBG is present truthful overmuch much than the conflict royale mode it erstwhile pioneered. As good arsenic the classical 100-player battlegrounds, the Krafton-owned megahit has aspirations successful the extraction shooter abstraction with Black Budget, arsenic good arsenic the much console-friendly Project Valor, some successful development. But soon, footwear up Battlegrounds itself, and you’ll find the developer’s latest summation to that collection, the sci-fi co-op PvE roguelike Xeno Point. It’s possibly the astir utmost illustration of the present nine-year-old crippled transitioning into a level – 1 intelligibly designed to rival the occurrence of its conflict royale rival from the different broadside of the world, Fortnite. Epic’s globe-conquering shooter has agelong integrated antithetic gameplay experiences into its last-player-standing fabric, including a collaboration with the playful Lego, the philharmonic Festival, and thousands of player-created modes. And now, PUBG Studios is aiming to physique the foundations of a akin ecosystem, kicking things disconnected with Xeno Point, which I precocious played erstwhile visiting the developer successful Seoul.

From spending a fewer days successful South Korea astir the ninth day of PUBG, it’s wide conscionable however large a woody it is there. Whereas Fortnite whitethorn predominate the taste mindshare successful Europe and the US, Battlegrounds inactive remains the king successful this portion of Asia. A well-attended lawsuit astatine Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium played big to developer panels, extravagant magic shows, and K-Pop performances. In the trendy Seongsu territory of the superior sits a dedicated taste abstraction designed for players to instrumentality a portion of the conflict royale into the existent world. A themed cafe and e-sports similar arena to play the crippled successful beryllium down a skate parkland littered with PUBG iconography, specified arsenic guns from the game’s collab with K-Pop miss radical Aespa, taking things to the adjacent level. It’s wide from talking to the squad astatine PUBG Studios that the shooter is overmuch much than a crippled here, but a portion of the culture. You’d conflict to find 1 azygous crippled celebrated to specified a grade successful immoderate different country.

The PUBG 9th Anniversary lawsuit astatine Korea University successful Seoul.

It’s thing that they’d emotion to replicate connected the Western broadside of the globe. Yes, PUBG Battlegrounds is nary large underdog — it inactive sat wrong the 12 astir played games connected Steam successful 2025 — but the workplace wants more. And to bash so, it has to alteration significantly. There’s nary denying that portion Fortnite has evolved some visually and mechanically implicit the past decennary oregon so, Battlegrounds has remained mostly unchanged, hesitating to clasp event-driven seasons and pop-culture collaborations to rather the aforesaid extent. To some, it's inactive the purest conflict royale, and 1 that comes with a delightful furniture of jank to it, adjacent if its existent incarnation is refined compared to its 2017 beginnings. But alternatively than instrumentality with these halfway ideas, oregon possibly adjacent connection a “classic” mentation of the crippled arsenic it did temporarily a mates of years ago, the workplace is going successful a antithetic direction.

From speaking with the developers successful Seoul, it's wide that the Fortnite exemplary is wherever they spot the aboriginal of PUBG, with much experimental, timed modes being lined up. That’s not to accidental that refinements for Battlegrounds aren’t besides connected their way, with an overhaul of however it plays connected consoles promised, including improved controller enactment and 120 fps, but determination are overmuch bigger, wider-scope things to come. During a presumption fixed by Taeseok Jang, Head of the PUBG IP Franchise Group, helium admits that “PUBG is nary longer viewed [internally] arsenic a azygous game” and alternatively arsenic a “long-term franchise with the extremity of becoming a planetary taste icon.” The archetypal measurement towards doing this? “Including high-quality modes developed successful collaboration with outer studios, arsenic good arsenic ongoing experimentation with user-generated content.”

One of these collabs is the upcoming Payday mode, which, rather literally, appears to beryllium placing Starbreeze’s heist-shooter enactment into PUBG with assistance from the Swedish studio. It’s acceptable to get successful May, but earlier that, connected April 8, comes Xeno Point, a sci-fi roguelite made wholly wrong of PUBG Studios’ walls. I got to effort retired this co-op PvE shooter mode erstwhile visiting, and, portion it didn’t stroke maine away, it did supply an penetration into wherever the aboriginal of the level is headed.

Several missions beryllium wrong of Xeno Point, each of which mostly impact gunning down waves of alien invaders arsenic you determination from constituent to constituent done linear levels, each of which is drawn from a warped mentation of Battlegrounds' Miramar map. Before heading retired connected each expedition, you’ll get to load up with acquainted PUBG weaponry and items, specified arsenic AUGs and pills, and past equip yourself with destructive eventual abilities that run connected a cooldown. I peculiarly enjoyed sending a swarm of detonating insects towards enemies and watching them explode. You’ll get the accidental to unlock imperishable upgrades and stat boosts for your quality aft each run, too, giving a consciousness of progression done each of its 10 oregon truthful levels.

It each culminates successful a phase-based brag combat successful which you’ll beryllium tasked with hammering bullets into glowing anemic points connected a elephantine alien being portion dodging each mode of red-tinged projectiles. This is wherever the co-op quality of Xeno Point comes to the fore arsenic you coordinate with teammates to usage your eventual abilities successful conjunction with 1 another. For example, summoning a elephantine protective shield that you and your 3 teammates tin structure nether portion you frantically scramble to revive a downed person wrong of it.

For this demonstration, we were dropped successful with high-level cogwheel and took connected the mode’s toughest brag astir instantly, truthful it was hard to get a existent grasp of what the afloat acquisition volition yet consciousness like, but from my clip with Xeno Point, it seems a perfectly serviceable shooter mode that volition enactment arsenic a alteration of gait from Battleground’s halfway tension-filled action, adjacent if I did find its harm sponge threats a small dull compared to the excitement recovered successful its last-player-standing staple.

It’s that archetypal conflict royale play that has kept fans coming backmost to PUBG for implicit 9 years now, though, truthful I bash question whether this foray into experimenting with much arcadey modes is the mode forward. The extremity whitethorn beryllium to rebuild “connections successful Western markets and younger audiences”, arsenic the manager of PUBG: Battlegrounds, Taehyun Kim, states, but I’m not definite if a regular feeling sci-fi roguelite and the instauration of Payday — a bid whose 3rd merchandise precocious fell mode abbreviated of expectations — is the mode to bash that.

Instead, continuing to refine the 1vs99 magic that it led the mode with could beryllium the wiser play here, and surely tweaking the console acquisition with the aforementioned improvements is simply a motion that this volition beryllium happening alongside these much experimental modes. But I can't assistance but consciousness that PUBG players travel to the crippled for its signature moments of tension, and much ‘rough-and-ready’ feeling gunplay that it has provided since 2017. A full, imperishable classical mode whitethorn good beryllium the reply for those who yearn for those aboriginal days erstwhile an Irish modder took inspiration from a 2000 Japanese movie to pioneer a shooter genre wrong Day Z.

Doubling down connected what made millions of players autumn successful emotion with the archetypal conflict royale and emphasising those fundamentally breathtaking roots whitethorn beryllium the smarter choice, alternatively than chasing the level that Fortnite has become.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.