PUBG: Battlegrounds, the game that popularized the battle royale genre a couple of years ago is now free-to-play on PC and consoles. The transition to a free-to-play business model was announced last month alongside Battlegrounds Plus, a new one-time $12.99 purchase for unlocking Ranked mode, custom matches, and other bonuses.
All players who already owned and played PUBG before the free-to-play transition will automatically receive the PUBG- Special Commerative pack including a free Battleground Plus upgrade and other rewards. The latest PUBG: Battlegrounds update released today also introduces new Tutorials, an improved Training mode, a new category of tactical items including the Drone.
PUBG: Battlegrounds made a big splash when it launched in early access on Steam back in 2017, and Microsoft later scored a one-year console exclusivity deal for the Xbox One version that launched later in the same year. PUBG: Battlegrounds still remains one of the most popular battle royale games on all platforms including mobile, but it’s now competing with the hugely popular Fortnite, Apex: Legends, and Call of Duty Warzone.
Now that PUBG: Battlegrounds is free-to-play on Xbox consoles, the game has also been removed from Xbox Game Pass. Be aware the Xbox, PlayStation, and Stadia versions of the game now support multiplayer cross-play, but you can disable this feature in the game’s settings. There’s no cross-platform play support with PC players, which is probably a good thing considering the recurrent cheating problems often seen on other free-to-play games.
