The KRAFTON studio has just announced its plans for PUBG in 2024 and they are ambitious: transition to Unreal Engine 5, destructible scenery and new game modes, it will be a major year for the game.
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS surely the game that popularized the battle royale just before the Fortnite tidal wave. For 7 years, the one that started as a mod for the survival game DayZ is still a very popular game around the world.
If the game obviously no longer attracts the 3 million players simultaneously as in 2018, between 500 and 600,000 players are still playing its large maps, not counting the mobile version which is very popular in Asia.
But there, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is a game that was quickly overtaken by Fortnite and now Call of Duty with his fashion Warzone. For these 7 years, it seems that the developers are thinking big to modernize its technical base as well as the possibilities offered by the game.
Switching to Unreal Engine 5 and destructible scenery
PUBG currently runs on the Unreal Engine 4, which is still widely used by developers, but is aging in more than one respect. One of the two big announcements from the KRAFTON studio concerns the move to Unreal Engine 5, which could give the game a facelift, both technically and aesthetically.
As was the case for Fortnite in 2022, we can therefore hope for the implementation of Nanite to complicate the geometry of the game and its many buildings. As was the case for Fortnite during its UE5 update, we can expect a much higher level of detail for the game’s many urban and natural environments.
And will we see ray tracing in PUBG? We will have to wait to see if the studio will exploit Lumen technology to further strengthen immersion in the game’s huge maps. The challenge will then be to optimize the performance of an already very demanding title. But the other novelty which will completely change the way of playing PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS will for sure destroy the environment and scenery.
The developers thus discussed the way in which the settings could be destructible and offer new gaming situations:
With the ability to strategically destroy sections of buildings, players can literally carve attack routes in stone or construct defensive barriers. With this feature, we hope to transcend the simple destruction of scenery, by giving the gameplay an enriched approach that gives pride of place to strategy and tactics.
If we do not expect a level of destruction like Battlefield or the recent The Finalssuch a novelty thus opens up the field of strategic possibilities for players, who will be able to improvise more in the most tense situations.
Other new features planned
KRAFTON’s roadmap also includes optimizations regarding matchmaking, one of the hot topics that also drives the Call of Duty community. Here, the studio wants it to be even more balanced and “based above all on the skills of the players”. The anti-cheat system will also receive valuable updates as more than 3 million accounts have been permanently banned in 2023, or 33% more than in 2022.
In terms of gameplay, PUBG will offer new game modes this year, including a team versus team mode which could offer greater variety beyond battle royale. We also learn that the studio is looking to implement portable ziplines for a mode of travel strongly inspired by Apex Legends.
You can find details of the new features expected for PUBG this year on the game’s official website.