PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is on sale for the first time ever, with its Steam price trimmed down to $20 just in time for the public release of the battle royale multiplayer shooter's third map.
The new PUBG map, officially named Sanhok and previously known as Codename: Savage, is only 4 kilometers by 4 kilometers big. This makes it a quarter of the size of the Erangel and Miramar maps, and similar to the map sizes of rival battle royale game Fortnite.
First 'PUBG' Discount On Steam
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, from its original price on Steam of $30, can now be bought for $20 for a 33 percent discount.
PUBG has been $30 ever since its Early Access release in March 2017. It was never part of any seasonal Steam sales and did not offer any special promotions until now.
In the discount announcement post, PUBG Corp. revealed that there are now more than 400 million PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds registered players worldwide, including PUBG Mobile. Xbox and PC sales combined, meanwhile, total more than 50 million units. In addition, there are more than 87 million gamers playing PUBG across all platforms daily.
The Steam sale, which will run until July 5, was launched to celebrate these milestones. The first PUBG discount, however, could also be an attempt by PUBG Corp. to close the gap between PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite.
New 'PUBG' Map: Sanhok
The launch of the first PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds sale coincides with the release of the new Sanhok map, which will be available starting June 22. The map will feature an underground cave system, tropical trees and will spawn weapons faster than the Erangel and Miramar.
Sanhok will be rolled out in a massive update that also adds the QBZ95 assault rifle, which is exclusive for the new map and replaces the SCAR-L assault rifle. The update will also include bug fixes, user interface changes, and performance tweaks. There will also be two gameplay updates, namely that accuracy modifiers will no longer be instantaneous and that players will get several seconds to celebrate their victories before the match ends.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' Vs 'Fortnite'
The sale and the new map may be part of PUBG Corp.'s strategy of trying to take the battle royale throne back from Fortnite, which has recorded revenues such as $296 million in April to eclipse PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
PUBG Corp., meanwhile, filed a lawsuit In May against Epic Games over similarities between PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite. Gamers, however, are questioning the timing and validity of the legal action.
