[Though ranked and custom matches will still cost you.]
[Image credit: PUBG Corporation]
After a lengthy 37 hours of maintenance, PUBG: Battlegrounds is live and newly free-to-play.
It was announced in December that the battle royale would shed its $30 price tag in favor of a format closer to fellow genre giants Apex Legends and Fortnite. The game now has a free basic version which includes most modes. If you want to dive into ranked or custom matches, you'll need to fork out $13 for Battlegrounds Plus. Those who bought the game previously will have their accounts automatically upgraded to Battlegrounds Plus along with a handful of goodies in a special commemorative pack.
To celebrate the relaunch, Krafton is chucking all sorts of rewards at players through Drops events. Players can watch streams, complete in-game missions, and invite friends to play to nab some extra bits and bobs for their character.
Along with the game going free-to-play, a new update has introduced tactical gear, action queueing, and a host of training modes. The latter should be especially useful to the swathe of new players who dive in for their first chicken dinner with basic training grounds, tutorials, and AI training matches now available.
While PUBG: Battlegrounds still holds a decent player base, it's a lot quieter than it was a few years ago. Morgan Park decided to return for a few matches in 2021 but felt as though the game had failed to keep up with the genre it helped popularise.
