It should come as no surprise, given the disproportionate media coverage, that PUBG has recently been overshadowed by its more cartoonish counterpart. Despite boasting the most downloads of any mobile game last quarter, its revenue has since stagnated with the relentless surge in popularity of Fortnite. On iOS alone, Epic’s new golden goose pulled in 5 times more revenue in its first week than PUBG Mobile.
Hoping to strike back, PUBG is looking to its new 0.60 update as a return to form. The first major addition is the Royale Pass, no doubt modeled after Fortnite’s Battle Pass. Essentially, players are now able to unlock rewards – in the form of random crates – by leveling up through daily and weekly missions. Unsurprisingly, spending cash allows for faster access to higher ranks and rewards. Higher paid tiers called Elite and Elite Upgrade Plus are also available for those looking to obtain more cosmetic bonuses. The Royale Pass is most likely an extension of the Battle Pass recently introduced to the PC version of the game, with the latter focusing more on predetermined cosmetic items. The other significant change is the new first-person perspective mode. Much like its name implies, the new first-person mode is an added variant to Classic Mode coupled with its own tier system. A new arcade mode, Mini-Zone, is also included in the update, which involves 100 players battling it out in a smaller zone with triple the weapon spawn rate.
Other smaller updates include emotes, new airplane and weapon skins, an armory that displays stats, voice system changes, results screen, tier protection, and more. The full changelog can be seen here:
- 1st person perspective.
- Royale Pass Season 1.
- Mini-Zone: A smaller map, more resources & air drops!
- Weapon & airplane finishes.
- View weapons in the new Armory.
- Pistols now get their own UI.
- Melee weapons can destroy tires.
- Individual teammates can be muted.
- Post-match results screen.
- Tier protection system.
- Asian character models.
- Emotes.
- Able to link 2 social networks.
- Added room cards.
- New items in the shop.
- Items can be gifted.
In all, this is quite a monumental upgrade for PUBG Mobile, and one that fans will surely appreciate. Even for those that aren’t excited by these new modes, the addition of the many quality-of-life updates is surely welcome after months of being locked behind the beta. With Fortnite pulling ahead in terms of popularity and monetary support (especially with its recent expansion to the Nintendo Switch), Tencent and PUBG Corp. must look to its casual base to once again appeal to the mainstream.
PUBG Mobile’s 0.60 Update should be parachuting to both iOS and Android starting today.