These days, whenever a new shooter game is revealed the one most frequent question comes up is that: is it going to be a battle royale kind of game? That happens because of the explosion in popularity of this sub-genre. The hype of a big multiplayer where only a team or one player left standing is the winner has never been more popular before PUBG launch on Steam back in 2017. While there are many other battle royale games that come before and after PUBG, it is surely the main force behind the push of battle royale genre into mainstream gaming.
The start
Brendan Greene "PlayerUnknown" ( the creator of PUBG) had a long history of doing mods for games like ARMA. The first seed toward PUBG of his is the ARMA 2 mod Battle Royale DayZ. Then he worked in a consulting role for Sony to create the mode of battle royale in H1Z1. Then in 2016, they create a separate game just for the battle royale with the name of H1Z1: King of the Kill.
Upon the release, H1Z1 has been able to build up a substantial fan-base thanks to that new and exciting mechanism of having only one life per match, and the proud of winning against 100 players, as well as the safe zones and randomized loot. But this game originally comes from a mod so there is always that feeling of lacking refinements like too simple structure, janky mechanics, and not high production values.
A better battle royale game
At first, PUBG also carries that baggage to the scene. However, as Greene worked together with Bluehole ( a Korean developer) for the early access of PUBG in 2017, it is clear that they have been able to break that barrier to bring this genre to a bigger player base. This release of PUBG features an accessible mechanics which allows the newbies to understand quickly the game and what they need to do in this game in order to survive. The players were quick to understand that they need to: drop from the plane in a good location, gather the gear, adapt to the changing safe zone, and how to win this battle royale game.
The appeal of PUBG also comes from its large arsenal of weapons. Thanks to the characteristics of range, recoil, damage of these weapons the system could also add another layer of strategy to the game. These type of firefights has a high-intensity level because you really need to learn how the weapon in the game works and utilize that by properly position yourself as well as a good aim. Combine that with all the tools such as smoke and explode grenades and the surrounding environments, it is like you are playing a mind game with the opponents. Consequently, winning a battle like that would feel really rewarding. The best of the best chicken dinners I dare to say.
The map
Throughout the early access period of the game, it has been able to maintain its popularity with just one map, that is the proof of the complexity of that map as well as the safe zones' unpredictable nature. While other battle royales game that predates PUBG usually has pretty barren battle maps. The map of PUBG has it all: varied terrain, big action hotspots, dense population centers. This map has created a new standard for the whole genre. There will be no two matches that are the same in PUBG and the gameplay situations in the game is always fresh.
From the critics
PUBG is the correct game which arrives at a correct time. We could say that it is the first complete version of a battle royale video game. PUBG inherited lots of features and characteristics from its root of the military sim in a new way that makes action play really feels tactical. It places itself in the balance between approachable and hardcore mechanics. Sure it still has its technical issues, but it is separated from the jankiness of a mod. With the full launch of PUBG of its 1.0 version, the critics have showered it with praise.
Chris Plante of Polygon gave the game the maximum score of 10/10 and said that PUBG is truly a refinement in this new trend of the video game. He also expected to see the game become the next big thing in the video game industry. He described the game as "imperfectly perfect". Moreover, the critics at Giant Bomb also named the game to be game of 2017. That was quite amazing because 2017 was a year full of genre-defining, amazing games such as Nier Automata, Persona 5, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Original Sin 2, and of course PUBG.
The number
Recently, we have numbers from Steamcharts.com that PUBG has already passed 1.5 million peak numbers in time back in 2017 September. That broke the last record of Dota 2 with 1.3 million. Then the game continued on the fast track to achieving a peak of 3.2 million players at the same time in early 2018, that is 3 times the number of Dota 2. Surely, other similar game developers took note and entered the scene with their own battle royale games. It hasn't been that launch since the explosion of PUBG, but surely the battle royale genre went viral because of this game.
Fornite
Then another name with the name of Fortnite entered the scene as a cultural phenomenon and household name thanks to the adoption of battle royale mode. Originally, Fornite was a shooter with waves and construction mechanics. But then Epic Games has clearly monitored PUBG well. Then Donal Mustard ( director of Epic Game) said that they love battle royale games, so they worked to make a battle royale game mode into Fortnite in just 2 months. Then Fortnite: Battle Royale went on early access as a free game on PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2017 September.
It is clear that eventhough PUBG is still a relatively new game. But the game has made the whole battle royale genre went viral. The game is still going strong from a gameplay perspective and current relevance viewpoint. The influence of PUBG is still spreading.
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