Why PUBG is So Popular

Whether you’ve been playing on console, PC, or your mobile device, chances are the game you’ve been playing involves being put into a cargo plane of some sort with 99 other players and then descending onto an island. Players then make a mad dash to find weapons, ammo, and armor in abandoned houses — hoping to be the last one standing when that little ticker on the corner of the screen hits one. This is the premise of the battle royale games that have been every where you look this year, despite the most accomplished ones not even being finished products.

Among the many clone-games stands the trend starter and original game proper, ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds', with its 2 million copies sold and occasionally 100,000 concurrent players, its nearly impossible to overstate the popularity and success of this indie marvel.  PUBG found success via another current trend, early access, which allowed it to sell access to an early development version of the game (think Alpha/Beta) for a discounted cost of $30.  This access allowed the game’s developer, Blue Hole, to rake in over $60 million on a game developed by a team of only 30-40 people and has put the game’s popularity (on Steam) behind only the likes of CS: GO and Dota 2, both of which have millions of dollars behind their marketing.

So where did the idea of a battle royale style game come from?  Well from a Japanese movie aptly titled, ‘Battle Royale’, in which a group of school children find themselves trapped on an island, fighting for survival in hopes to be the last one standing.  The concept was cemented in the gaming industry by none other than PlayerUnknown himself, Brendan Greene, who already had a history with battle royale mods for games like H1Z1 and Arma 2.  When Blue Hole had an idea to make a game based on the likes of these mods, they contacted Greene and pitched him the idea; he was instantly on board.

Now back to the question, what secret formula makes these battle royale games so popular?  Well in all truth there’s not any out or the box approach to them, they’re simply a great mix of shooter and the survival simulators that were all the trend just a few years ago.  The key to the success of PUBG and Fortnite is really a matter of timing, the gaming industry had been itching a proper battle royale game, largely because of the very mods Greene had worked on; you mix that in with the free marketing of the likes of Twitch and other streaming services and a goliath is born. 

Unintentionally PUBG is the perfect recipe for a game meant to be streamed, in large, because of the opening mechanics.  Looting and slowly preparing your character for battle slows down the pace so that streamers can interact with their fans while still staying focused on the game at hand.  This went a long way towards encouraging the most popular streamers to play PUBG and therefore market the game in an age when the traditional PR barrage of old is not necessarily the approach needed to sell a million copies.  The age of the classic marketing blitz found on the likes of ‘Nintendo Power’ is dead, fortunately, Green and Blue Hole were ahead of the curve. 

While PUBG may be the pioneer when it comes to the genre, games like Fortnite, are playing with the formula and being very successful in their own right.  I believe a majority of the success is due to how refreshing their take on shooters is, in a time when the classic formula was feeling stale.  Let’s think back at how we felt when the original ‘Modern Warfare’ hit the market; it was a similar feeling of shaking things up and it established Activision and Infinity Ward at the forefront of success in the FPS genre. 

The sense of variety that these battle royale games bring help their popularity immensely; from the varying weapons and customization options, to the randomization of each play through, the games just feel new and invigorating.  This isn’t an affect of the games themselves being new, rather the entire foundation just helps to make sure the game does not become stale, no matter how many hours you put in (in spite of your wife scowling at you). 

Another aspect that has really aided in making these games feel different from others is the huge lean on strategy; this isn’t your basic run-and-gun affair and involves a lot more strategic planning in the final moments, than a lethal point-and-click reflex (although it helps immensely).  These battle royale games also succeed where games like “Battlefield” have been painstakingly trying to find success for years, in making teamwork essential.  The pressure to have a properly coordinated team working in sync in an absolute do-or-die situation makes for an adrenaline filled experience unlike any other.

For any dads new to the genre or that simply haven’t had a chance to dive in to PUBG’s particular style of anxiety, the good news is that the game manages to be very noob friendly; this is because the game rewards player regardless of their playstyle.  While some gamers may complain and criticize the game for this, PUBG does naturally encourage cautious, borderline cowardly play in the same manner it encourages you to be aggressive.  You can dive into the middle of a gun fight and be rewarded, but you can also avoid all contact until you’re left with no choice and be rewarded just the same.  Of course you can play like I do and camp until you lose your patience and go in guns blazing only to realize your surrounded by 5 rooftop snipers…but I digress.

 

In short, if you take a game that is as fun to watch as it is to play, you will find success in the gaming industry.  Turns out that if you throw 100 erratically desperate gamers onto an island and tell them to hunt each other, it makes for great nerve-wrecking entertainment whether you’re a hunter or a

spectator.  Think the Hunger Games, but with real violence and savagery.