PUBG kickstarted the current Battle Royale trend which has defined free-to-play shooters over the last few years. Without PUBG, there probably wouldn’t be a huge following for Fortnite or Warzone. But the game itself hasn’t quite fared as well as those it’s inspired. It isn’t controversial to say that the hype has died down around PUBG in the years since its release. How much has the hype died down though, and would it be fair to ask is PUBG dying?

PUBG’s core play base has definitely changed. On PC and console, it can’t compare to the Fortnite player base or other Battle Royales. Looking at the drop-off on these platforms, it would make sense to start wondering is PUBG dying. That’s just part of the story though. PUBG has grown substantially as an ecosystem, just mainly on mobile.

It’s fair to say the game’s position in gaming culture has dipped. PUBG might not make huge headlines, but it would be wrong to say that PUBG mobile is dying. The game on PC and console is still pushing ahead to innovate on how Battle Royales work, so is there more to PUBG than appears right now?

Is PUBG Dying?

When asking if a game is dying, you need to think about what determines if a game is still alive. The same questions are asked for most Battle Royale titles.
The best way to measure is player numbers. A Battle Royale needs a lot of players in each lobby to go well, if it fails to get enough players, you’re stuck waiting a long time to play or playing with bots. This is even worse when you consider matchmaking that has to deal with the PUBG ranking system. How does PUBG compare here and is PUBG dying in player numbers? It has been struggling.

The PUBG player count is down from a high of over 3 million players to 300,000 – 600,000 daily players. It’s a significant drop. However, it has grown from its previous lows. In June 2020 the highest point for the player count had dipped down to 230,329. This was a pretty big drop-off but PUBG has improved in a few ways since.

Where exactly is PUBG’s player count now? It is difficult to say for certain. Games rarely release their player counts when it’s dropping, instead just telling the public about the highs. If the number of bots is anything to go off, PUBG’s player base is likely lower than this right now. You can still expect about 200k players active at all times. Do take into account that this is divided among multiple regions and queue types, so the number in your area may roughly be a few thousand at best.

Source: Krafton

Does PUBG Still Get Updates?

It is difficult to say is PUBG dying from this alone, since the game is regularly updated. This is definitely a legitimate measure of a living game or not. If a game is still being supported by devs, and getting improved, it’s hard to say it’s truly dead.

Not everything is about player count. In terms of updates, PUBG is still very much alive. New content arrives often. Some of these new features are impressively innovative for a Battle Royale. PUBG kick-started the Battle Royale trend, and in many ways, it is still the one leading the pack in evolving gameplay.

The best PUBG players are still signed to their teams, and new organizations are joining the competitive scene for this game. This hints that esports orgs are confident the title is not just going to roll over and die anytime soon. Player numbers are cyclical and once PUBG brings the game into a more favorable state, you can expect a huge amount of the original players to return to the title and give it yet another chance.

Is PUBG Mobile Dying?

@ PUBG

While it is tricky to answer is PUBG dying, is PUBG mobile dying is a bit easier to answer. PUBG Mobile is still very much alive and has a big and active player base.

PUBG mobile even boasts more competitive events. The game has seen some big swings in player numbers, mainly from being banned in some territories. However, the game itself is pretty healthy and could even be considered a bigger success than the mainline PUBG. The games is not just alive and well, but also growing and expanding monthly. Mobile esports is a growing area, but PUBG Mobile particularly has seen huge success.

Is PUBG Lite Dying?

The last version of PUBG released is a much simpler topic. There is a clear answer to is PUBG Lite dying? Yeah, it is already dead. PUBG Lite is shutting down and won’t be available to play in the future. This was a fun experiment but ultimately it didn’t catch on.

While PUBG has declining player numbers, there is still a lot of new content coming to the game regularly. It is possible for the title to bounce back from this dip. With their current commitment to interesting gameplay and feature updates, it’s possible that players return to PUBG in the future.