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PUBG Event Pass Met with Huge Player Backlash
Passing on Event Pass.
The fanbase for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds isn't happy.
Yesterday, the PUBG Corp. revealed PUBG would get its first Event Pass this Friday on PC with the new map Sanhok. The Event Pass will be a timed event in which players can earn limited-edition customization items. If it sounds a lot like Fortnite's Battle Pass, that's because it is. And like Fortnite's Battle Pass, PUBG's Event Pass will cost $10.
But there's been a backlash to the Event Pass.
On social media and Reddit, fans have blasted the game's developers for what they see as greedy business practices and failing to deliver an improved experience.
"We have supported this game since Early Access," Reddit user Ford117 wrote in a post on PUBG's subreddit, which has almost 650,000 subscribers. "PUBG has made over $730 million dollars. Yet, it's still not optimized, cheaters are rampant, crates are locked behind keys. Even after charging $30 for the game, they now introduce this $9.99 Event Pass."
It has quickly risen to be one of the most upvoted posts in the subreddit's history.
The same sentiment can be found all over Twitter, where players see the $10 cost of admission as another cash grab on top of already existing loot boxes and the initial price of the game.
After igniting the recent wave of battle royale games early last year, PUBG has had a tough time keeping its footing as a leader in the market. Especially after Fortnite, which is a free-to-play game, launched and expanded so quickly. PUBG has dealt with massive amounts of cheaters and seen numerous streamers jump ship for Fortnite.
PUBG isn't going anywhere though. PUBG Corp announced on Tuesday that the game has reached 400 million registered users on PC, Xbox, and mobile combined, with 87 million daily players.
Peter Allen Clark is a freelance writer who has spent too much time trying to hunt down the llamas in PUBG.