Earlier this week, PUBG: Battlegrounds finally made its long-awaited transition to free-to-play game - but not everyone is happy about it.
Released back in 2017, PUBG: Battlegrounds was one of the more popular battle royales on the market. It was, of course, ultimately eclipsed by bigger, free battle royales like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Call Of Duty: Warzone.
PUBG Corporation has insisted that its game moving to a free-to-play model is not a direct response to the competition. Rather, they simply believe it's the right time to have done it.
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"Our game is in a great place with eight maps, an engaged community, and our deep gun mechanics, so this is the natural next step and a great way to introduce more players to our universe," the game's creative director Dave Curd told GamesRadar.
"I know there are a lot of people who are interested in PUBG: Battlegrounds but have never gotten around to playing it for various reasons - now is the perfect moment to get started."
While that's some solid reasoning, a number of longtime fans are less than thrilled about PUBG: Battlegrounds suddenly being free. Over on Steam, the game has seen a wave of negative reviews, with users expressing their concern that going free-to-play will lead to an influx of cheaters. Others are demanding their money back, having paid full price for the game years ago.
On January 12, the day PUBG: Battlegrounds officially became free, it was hit with over 5,000 negative reviews in the space of 24 hours. Comments like "free 2 play = cheat 2 play", and "can I have my money back?" are now a common sight.
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It's worth noting that PUBG Corporation hasn't actually forgotten about the players who purchased the game back in the day. Existing players can get their hands on a Special Commemorative Pack, which grants permanent access to a ton of special bonuses like an exclusive ranked mode, the option to create custom matches, and handful of cosmetics.
Featured Image Credit: PUBG CorporationTopics: Steam, Battle Royale