Ranked Play

The battle royale that started it all.

Played from a third-person or first-person perspective, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island where they search for weapons and equipment to fight while trying to survive as the last one standing. The safe area decreases over time, directing players into an ever-tightening space to force encounters.

Quick Facts

Game franchise: PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
Mode type: Competitive; Ranked

Lore & Background

The game's concept and design was led by Brendan Greene, known as PlayerUnknown, who had previously created a mod for ARMA 2 called DayZ: Battle Royale, inspired by the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale. The game was developed under his creative direction.

Reader's Guide

Players can choose to enter a match solo, duo, or with a small team of up to four people. The last person or team alive wins. Each match starts with players parachuting from a plane onto one of eight maps. Players start with no gear and must search buildings and sites to find weapons, vehicles, armor, and equipment. The playable area shrinks every few minutes, with players outside taking damage. Random bombed regions and loot packages dropped by a plane also occur. A full round takes no more than 30 minutes. Players gain in-game currency based on performance, used to purchase crates with cosmetic items. A rotating event mode was added in March 2018.

Did You Know?

PUBG: Battlegrounds was first released for Windows via Steam's early access beta program in March 2017, with a full release in December 2017.
The game was renamed PUBG: Battlegrounds in 2021 and has been free-to-play since January 2022.
As of 2026, all official competitive modes are only in third-person.