The definition of what “Early Access” means has been stretched to its limit the past few years, and with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in particular, many believed that it shouldn’t be considered for GOTY because of its Early Access status on Steam.
Well, it turns out PUBG will squeeze in a “true” release before the year’s end after all.
Bluehole has announced that PUBG will be leaving Early Access for a full 1.0 release later today. Here’s what they said about the process:
“Players, we will be leaving Early Access and launching PC 1.0 on Dec 20 11PM PST. The maintenance on live servers for 1.0 will start Dec 20 4PM PST / Dec 21 3AM CET and last for 5 hours. 1.0 release patch notes and our plans beyond the release will be shared with you soon.”
“Please note that once the live servers go into maintenance, the test servers will also be closed. This is to ensure a smooth transition to PC 1.0. We hope for your understanding.”
While the full details of the patch aren’t yet out, many fans are wondering why PUBG is choosing this moment to leave Early Access, or whether it “deserves” to.
I think it’s fine.
There have been plenty of games that have stayed in Early Access much, much longer than PUBG, which was released in March of this year and has racked up 10+ million sales since. Also, given the type of game that it is, an ongoing online multiplayer shooter, it’s going to keep building itself out whether it’s in or out of Early Access, adding features, fixing bugs. Yes, it’s “unfinished,” but again, that label means very little in an age when most AAA games are released somewhat “unfinished” themselves, constantly fixing problems and adding new content long after launch (like we just saw with a recent patch for the Xbox One version, where the game remains a “preview”).
I wondered if Bluehole might be doing this to qualify for more GOTY consideration if it does a full release before year’s end, meaning it technically came out in full in 2017. But most of those lists are already written, and many of them have had no problem putting PUBG on there regardless of its Early Access status. Polygon released a 10/10 review of the game before this latest 1.0 announcement was even made.
It deserves it. Whether it’s the “best” game of 2017 or not, it is inarguably the most influential, and we are going to see the ripples of PUBG’s success over the next few years. Fortnite Battle Royale is only the beginning, and more versions will emerge, in addition to other existing series cashing in on the fad (Call of Duty is toying with a battle royale-style mode in China right now).
Stay tuned to see what changes PUBG 1.0 brings, and what Bluehole’s plans are for the game moving forward.
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