Chapter 3: Release
Bluehole used closed alpha and beta periodswith about 80,000 players to gauge initial reaction to the gameplay and adjust balance prior to a wider release.[13][41] Just prior to the early access phase on Steam, Bluehole opened a few servers and invited some popular live streamers of similar games to try it out as to start gaining interest.[42] Early access for the Windows version launched on March 23, 2017.[43] This period was planned to last approximately six months, originally aiming for a September 2017 release.[43][44] In July 2017, Greene announced that they would need to extend the early access period by a few months, continuing to release updates on a regular basis, with plans to still release by the end of 2017, as committing to this original period "could hinder us from delivering a fully featured game and/or lead to disappointment within the community if the launch deadline is not met".[45] Initially, Bluehole had expected that they would just gain enough players through early access to smooth out the gameplay, and only when the game was completed, they would have started more marketing for the title. The sudden interest in the game from early access exceeded their expectations, and put emphasis on the stability of the game and its underlying networking alongside gameplay improvements.[41] Through August 2017, these updates generally included a major weekly patch alongside major monthly updates that provided key performance improvements.[46][5][19] However, from August onward Bluehole backed off the rate of such patches, as the high frequency has led to some quality control issues, and the developers rather make sure each patch content is well-vetted by the community before providing new updates; this did not change their plans for a 2017 release, where it fully released out of early access on December 20.[47][48]
In part of the game's success in early access, Tencent Games, the largest publisher of video games in China, approached Bluehole that same month with an offer to publish Battlegrounds in China and purchase equity in the company.[49] However, the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association issued a statement in October 2017 that discouraged battle royale-style games, stating that they are too violent and deviate from Chinese values of socialism, deeming it harmful to young consumers.[50][51] The following month however, PUBG had reached a formal agreement with the Chinese government to allow the release of the game in the country, with Tencent as the publishing partner.[52] However, some changes were made to make sure it aligned with socialist values and traditional Chinese morals.[53] In South Korea, the game is marketed and distributed by Kakao Games.[54]
Despite the lack of a Chinese publisher prior to the Tencent deal, players in China had found ways to acquire and play the game through Steam via proxies and other networking tricks.[55] To address it, PUBG Corporation planned to add maximum client ping limits for servers which can reduce the issues with latency problems and prevent some of the cheating that has occurred. This would not prevent cross-region matchmaking but may make it difficult for some players to play outside their region if they have a poor Internet infrastructure.[56] Tencent has also helped by identifying and reporting around 30 software programs to Chinese police that can be used to cheat in Battlegrounds, leading to over a hundred arrests by the beginning of 2018.[57] Separately, this technical issue, in addition to the larger number of Chinese players, has created complaints in the player community. Some Western players fear that many Chinese players are able to cheat in the game by exploiting some of the network latency issues, something that PUBG Corporation continued to address as the game shifted out of early access. However, a small number of players called for server segregation by region, and had used racial insults at Chinese players they encounter in game. Greene was disappointed with this "xenophobic attitude", calling it "disgraceful", and asked the player community to respect the Chinese players more as their numbers were a key part of the game's success.[55]Greene also identified that players can easily get around such region locks using virtual private networks, making this approach ineffective.[58] PUBG Corporation eventually added region-based matchmaking by October 2018, though players still reported issues with connectivity and slow matchmaking.[59]
Xbox One
Greene was part of Microsoft's press conference during E3 2017 to announce that Battlegrounds would be coming to Xbox Oneas a timed console exclusive sometime by the end of 2017, using the Xbox Game Previewearly access approach to test it.[60] [61][62][41]
Initially, Greene said that Microsoft was not directly involved in the porting but only providing assistance to make sure the port is good, and that most of the porting responsibilities are being done by Anticto, a Spanish developer.[30] However, at Gamescomthat year, Bluehole affirmed that Microsoft Studios would be publishing the Xbox One version of the title, helping to make a planned 2017 release for this version.[63] Greene said that Microsoft's support has helped in several ways, not only for the Xbox One version but improving the performance and security of the Windows version. Further, by being part of the group of studios under the Microsoft banner, they have been able to talk and incorporate technology from other developers, such as improved water rendering techniques they obtained from Rare that they had developed for Sea of Thieves.[64] Microsoft considered Battlegrounds to be an important project to demonstrate their company's ability to be more than just a publisher, according to Microsoft's Nico Bihary who lead the project. Bihary said they have given Battlegrounds a "white glove" treatment, and for the Xbox One port have provided services from their advanced technology group and time and support from The Coalition, another of Microsoft Studios' subsidiaries.[65] Kim also stated that the team was interested in cross-platform play between the Windows and console versions, but did not anticipate this as a release feature, as they need to determine how to mitigate the advantage keyboard and mouse-using players would have over those using controllers.[41]
Titled "Game Preview Edition", the early access version for the Xbox One was released on December 12, 2017 in both digital and physical formats.[66][67][68] To promote it, Microsoft performed real-life supply crate drops in Australia in the week prior, with the crates containing Xbox hardware, Battlegrounds merchandise, and other goods, using passcodes published alongside the drop locations on social media.[69] The Xbox version also includes Xbox-specific in-game cosmetic items, some which could be purchased directly rather than through in-game crates.[70] The official release out of the Game Preview program occurred on September 4, 2018.[71][72]
Mobile versions
Following the Chinese publication deal for the Windows version, Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation additionally announced that they were planning on releasing two mobile versions based on the game in the country.[73][74] The first, PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield, is an abridged version of the original game, and was developed by Lightspeed & Quantum Studio, an internal division of Tencent Games.[75] The second, PUBG: Army Attack, includes more arcade-style elements, including action taking place on warships, and was developed by Tencent's Timi Studio.[76] Both versions are free-to-play, and were released for Android and iOSdevices on February 9, 2018.[77][78] The games had a combined total of 75 million pre-registrations, and ranked first and second on the Chinese iOS download charts at launch.[78] Following a soft launch in Canada, an English version of Exhilarating Battlefieldknown as PUBG Mobile, was released worldwide on March 19, 2018.[79][80][81]
PlayStation 4
With the announcement of the Xbox release, PUBG Corporation stated that there were plans to port to additional platforms, such as the PlayStation 4.[82][83][84] In an interview shortly after Gamescom, Greene said that their deal with Microsoft did not exclude a PlayStation 4 port, but that their focus at the time was only on the Windows and Xbox One version, given the small size of their team.[64][49] When asked about it in January 2018, Kim stated that the team released the game first on the Steam and Xbox Game Preview early access programs as they both easily allowed in-development games to be released and updated over time, which contrasted with Sony's lack of their own early access program, as well as their strict quality control for even completed games.[85] The PlayStation port was officially announced in November, and was released on December 7, 2018. PUBG Corporation studio head Brian Corrigan said that while they had had a small team working on the PlayStation 4 port for some time, it was only until the Xbox One port was mostly completed that they began fully working on the PlayStation port.[86] The PlayStation 4 version of the game includes platform-exclusive customization items, specifically the outfit of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series, and Ellie's backpack from The Last of Us.[87] A short live-action film to promote the PlayStation 4 release was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starred Jason Mitchell.[88]
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