Seven years after it was first released, PUBG: Battlegrounds is returning to its roots. The battle royale’s map Erangel is returning for a limited time only in a similar move to Fortnite, which brought back its original island map at the end of 2023. During the event period, the game will also feature classic weapon balancing and visuals, along with a vintage UI and more gloomy weather.
Erengel Classic will only be available from May 14 until May 28 on PC and May 23 until June 6 on consoles.
Inspired by the Japanese movie Battle Royale, PUBG: Battlegrounds was expanded into a standalone game after originally being developed as a series of mods for other games. Played from either a first or third-person perspective, the game pits up to 100 players against each other after they parachute onto an island, where they must scavenge for weapons and kill others while avoiding death themselves.
Despite technical flaws, the game quickly became the preferred battle royale title of the time, being endlessly replayable and easy to pick up for gamers of any skill level. Upon its release, it received a number of Game of the Year nominations and set seven Guinness World Records, including the Most Actively played video game on Steam and the Fastest time for a Steam Early Access video game to gross $100 million in revenue.
PUBG: Battlegrounds was released for PC in December 2017 and was later released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, and iOS. It remains the fifth best-selling game of all time and has brought in over #13 billion in worldwide revenue.
