Free-to-Play Announcement

Hello Survivors!

Over the years, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS has seen many changes since it debuted on Steam Early Access. In a humbling turn of events, fans around the world embraced our version of Battle Royale as they experienced the game’s tension, realistic gunplay, and edge of your seat action.

Following this unprecedented success, BATTLEGROUNDS found its way to multiple other platforms, expanding to console and mobile players alike. But now, it’s time for BATTLEGROUNDS to make its biggest leap of all; Free to Play. BATTLEGROUNDS Free-to-play now gives us the opportunity to expand our community even more and bring all the thrills of the game to everyone, while providing new friends, faster matchmaking, and let’s be honest, more targets for our existing player base.

BATTLEGROUNDS Free-to-play will also include a number of improvements we’ve been working on, which fans will see roll out on launch and in the months to follow. Now is truly the best time to play, so check out the details below, get ready to bolster your squad, drop in, and share that Chicken Dinner with as many friends as you can!

BATTLEGROUNDS Plus

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS will be free for everyone to play! Players will start off with a Basic account, which allows access to most of the game’s features. However, please note that certain features will be limited to BATTLEGROUNDS Plus accounts. 

BATTLEGROUNDS Plus is a new product that gives PUBG fans a way to supplement their BATTLEGROUNDS experience while supporting the game. Plus is a one-time purchase and includes all of the following:

  • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus upgrade product/DLC will be sold for $12.99 USD after the free-to-play transition.
  • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus unlocks access to the following:
    • Survival Mastery XP +100% boost
    • Career – Medal tab
    • Ranked Mode
    • Creating and playing a Custom Match.
  • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus includes the following items:
    • Captain’s Camo Hat
    • Captain’s Camo Mask
    • Captain’s Camo Gloves
    • Bonus 1300 G-COIN

Rewards & Benefits: Existing Players

It wouldn’t have been possible for us to come all this way without all our Survivors who have supported our game over the years. To show how much we appreciate the support, all players who have owned and played PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS before the free-to-play service transition will automatically receive the PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK, which includes a free BATTLEGROUNDS Plus upgrade and various rewards. These will automatically apply to your account after the free-to-play service conversion.  The conditions for obtaining rewards and the method of receiving them may differ for each platform, so please check out the details below.

  • Acquiring Rewards  
    • Steam: Players who purchased or acquired the game through a redeem code before the free-to-play transition on
      • PST: January 10, 2022 10 AM
      • CET: January 10, 2022 7 PM
      • KST: January 11, 2022 3 AM
    • Xbox/Stadia: Players who have created and setup the in-game nickname after purchase of the game before the free-to-play transition on
      • PST: January 10, 2022 10 AM
      • CET: January 10, 2022 7 PM
      • KST: January 11, 2022 3 AM
    • PlayStation®: Players who purchased {PUBG – SPECIAL FREE TO PLAY TRANSITION PACK} for free on PlayStation® Store from:
      • PST: December 12, 2021 11 PM – January 10, 2022 11 AM
      • CET: December 13, 2021 8 AM – January 10, 2022 8 PM
      • KST: December 13, 2021 4 PM – January 11, 2022 4 AM

※ For PlayStation® – Japanese accounts, please check the FAQ as different conditions apply. 

  • Rewards
    • PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK
      • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus
      • Costume skin set
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Corset
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Jacket
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Gloves
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Pants
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Boots
      • Shackle and Shanks Legacy – Pan
      • Nameplate – Battle-hardened Legacy
  • Rewards Distribution 
    • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus: Automatically distributed to your account on your first login after the free-to-play transition.
    • Other rewards will automatically be distributed to your account inventory on your first login after the free-to-play transition. 
  • Items can be found under the Customize – Utility tab.

Free-to-Play Service Transition & Maintenance Schedule

The free-to-play transition will happen at the end of Live Server Maintenance on January 12, 2022. This will apply to all platforms where PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is available. Please note that the maintenance time may take longer than usual, as we will be updating each platform’s store and distributing rewards to our existing players.

  • Free-to-play Service Transition: After the live server maintenance on January 12, 2022.
  • Server Maintenance Schedule
    • PST: January 10, 2022 10 AM – Until maintenance end on January 12, 2022
    • CET: January 10, 2022 7 PM – Until maintenance end on January 12, 2022
    • KST: January 11, 2022 3 AM – Until maintenance end on January 12, 2022
  • Platforms: Steam, Kakao, Xbox, PlayStation®, Stadia

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Title Sale End Plans

With the free-to-play service transition, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS title sale will end on:

  • PST: January 10, 2022 10 AM
  • CET: January 10, 2022 7 PM
  • KST: January 11, 2022 3 AM
  • Purchasing PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS before the scheduled termination entitles you to acquire BATTLEGROUNDS Plus and the PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK once the transition happens.

Xbox/PlayStation® Players

With the free-to-play service transition, subscriptions to Xbox Live or PlayStation® Plus are not required to play PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS.

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS service on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation® Now will be discontinued according to the following schedule. As Xbox Cloud Gaming is a service offered to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS’ Xbox Cloud Gaming service will also end its service.

  • Xbox Game Pass Service End:
    • PST: January 11, 2022 2 AM
    • CET: January 11, 2022 11 AM
    • KST: January 11, 2022 7 PM
  • PlayStation® Now Service End: 
    • PST: January 11, 2022 at 10 AM
    • CET: January 11, 2022 at 7 PM
    • KST: January 12, 2022 at 3 AM

Events

In addition to the various benefits introduced above, we have prepared several events to commemorate the free-to-play service transition of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. Check out the event announcement for more information.

FAQ

What are you going to do about cheating and hacking?

  • There are some differences between Basic and BATTLEGROUNDS Plus in accessible game modes. This is partly aimed at giving additional benefits to those upgrading to the BATTLEGROUNDS Plus, but the ultimate reason for restricting the use of some major content is to prevent cheaters. In the case of Ranked Mode, fair play is required the most as it is a fierce competition of players competing over Rank Points(RP). If anyone can play in a Ranked match without any restrictions, there are concerns about the possibility of an increase in potential cheaters as well as the possibility of banned players returning to the game easily. In addition, in order to prevent actions such as promoting unauthorized programs through creating custom matches, some contents are only available through BATTLEGROUNDS Plus. Anti-cheat is more important than ever as PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is now free-to-play. We have prepared a separate detailed announcement regarding anti-cheat, so please read more for details.

Are you going to reward existing players?

  • Sure! PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS wouldn’t have been possible without you all.
  • Rewards
    • PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK
      • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus
      • Costume skin set
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Corset
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Jacket
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Gloves
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Pants
        • Battle-hardened Legacy Boots
      • Shackle and Shanks Legacy – Pan
      • Nameplate – Battle-hardened Legacy
  • Rewards Distribution 
    • BATTLEGROUNDS Plus: Automatically distributed to your account on your first login after the free-to-play transition.
    • Other rewards will automatically be distributed to your account inventory on your first login after the free-to-play transition. 

Are any new game content being released alongside free-to-play?

  • We have a few surprises in store for later! Check out the details on our future Patch Notes. 

What’s next for the game?

  • Right now, all of our team’s focus is on the free-to-play service transition. However, we will continue introducing game content that many players will find exciting and fun, as we have always done. For example, the codename “Kiki” unfortunately has been postponed to around mid-2022. In addition, as introduced in the Update 14.2 Patch Notes, the next Survivor Pass will be available to you around March 2022. For more details, watch out for future announcements. So please look forward to more to come!

I want to get a refund for the title I purchased. What should I do?

  • Refunds of BATTLEGROUNDS Plus or PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS are made based on the consumer protection law of each region and policies of each platform, so please reach out to each platform company for more detailed inquiries.

PlayStation® – Japan account players have different conditions to acquire the “PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK.” What are the requirements?

  • For PlayStation® – Japan accounts, we are unable to provide free products of a specific value due to local laws and platform policies. Therefore, please purchase the “PUBG – SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE PACK” for ¥100 from the PlayStation® Store to obtain the reward.

See you on the battlegrounds.

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team.