Ten million and counting: That’s the number of copies of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds that PC gamers have bought since the last-player-standing shooter debuted six months ago. That’s a remarkable accomplishment for Bluehole Studio — especially when you consider that this development group has never made a shooter before.
So, where does Battlegrounds go from here?
We’re already seeing the copycats. Ark: Survival Evolved has a mode. Grand Theft Auto Online has its own take on Battlegrounds, too. H1Z1: King of the Kill isn’t a clone since it came out before Bluehole’s phenomenon. I’m ready for a take that replaces guns and vehicles with fantasy weapons, magic, and dragons, but I’m not sure if that market exists.
Regardless, we’re seeing a trend where every summer, one game dominates. Last year, it was Pokémon Go on mobile. It’s obvious why it was a sensation. It’s the first Pokémon game for smartphones, and it gave people a reason to go outside during the best months to stay outdoors.
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Battlegrounds’ path to success shows how important Twitch can be to your marketing strategy. Bluehole’s game first spread via word of mouth, but it also got streamers into the player pool. The ridiculous videos that spawned from their hijinks got more people into the game. I know I would’ve never tried it if not for watching GamesBeat PC Gaming editor’s Jeff Grubb’s adventures.This snowballed, helping the title surge past Valve’s juggernaut strategy game, Dota 2, for concurrent players on August 27.
Now, if someone would just make that last-player-standing experience with wizards and dragons in it.
For PC gaming coverage, send news tips to Jeff Grubb and guest post submissions to Rowan Kaiser. Please be sure to visit our PC Gaming Channel.
— Jason Wilson, GamesBeat managing editor
P.S. Dean takes an emotional journey with this indie from Italy, Last Day of June.
From GamesBeat
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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has sold 10 million copies in 6 months
Bluehole Studio announced today that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has hit the 10 million sold milestone. The Battle Royale multiplayer shooter has been available for PC in Early Access since March. That is a lot of games to sell before an official release, but PUBG has become a special kind of hit. It even managed to have more […]
The Elder Scrolls Legends and card master Pete Hines face the dragon
Daenerys Targaryen wishes her dragons had an iota of the power that my draconic minions show in The Elder Scrolls: Legends. Of course my wyrms are beefy and fiery and soar over the battlefield. But they also make my foes quake in fear, reducing their power or shackling them to the battlefield upon which they stand. […]
Why Stardock wanted to show up early to the Vulkan graphics API party
Stardock updated its Ashes of the Singularity strategy game with support for the Vulkan graphics-rendering API in August, and that introduced some serious performance improvements — especially for players who aren’t using Windows 10. Ashes of the Singularity was one of the first games to support DirectX 12, which is Microsoft latest graphics API. And […]
GameMaker Studio creators look back at 17 years of development
FEATURE: Making games is easier than ever — even if it’s still difficult to make good games. One of the tools that tries to enable creators to craft modern 2D games with relative ease, however, is GameMaker Studio from software firm YoYo Games. That software kit is now 17 years old, and the folks at YoYo […]
Beyond GameBeat
How the Data Implosion will trigger the Great Game Dev Correction
Every year or two I write a major prediction paper. They may appear speculative but because they are based on mathematical methods with very high efficacy, I’m not jeopardizing my record for 100% predictive accuracy by doing so. What I do is track high altitude systems and search for trends that may cause feedback loops. What I mean here is one trend that forces another trend rapidly in one direction, and vice versa. The result is that the trending numbers move rapidly towards either zero or infinity. These sorts of feedback loops are common causes of disease in human physiology. When they occur in a high level economic system, I call them a Systemic Death Spiral. This usually precipitates some sort of crash. (via GamaSutra)
Since its foundation in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment has worked with seven different publishers. Commencing with LucasArts on Knights of the Old Republic II, Obsidian has since signed contracts with Atari, SEGA, Bethesda, Square Enix, Ubisoft and most recently, Paradox Interactive. In fact, up until Pillars of Eternity [official site], every single game Obsidian had made was funded and distributed by a different publisher. (via Rock Paper Shotgun)
Ark: Survival Evolved Review: A Rough Rodeo As A Dino Rider
I’m wandering through the darkness with no clear destination. There’s a light in the sky and I’m moving towards it, but occasionally it disappears from view in the forest. I hear footsteps behind me and I pause. Is it a dinosaur? Is the creature neutral or hostile? Earlier I was attacked by a poisonous wasp that I lit on fire with my torch before running. (via US Gamer)
How Dying Light brought Techland’s reputation back from the dead
In July, Techland announced that Dying Light is getting ten new pieces of free content over the coming year. In a very rare move, this will mean the game will have received semi-regular content for over three years since its release. Fans have, understandably, thrown their hands high in celebration — free is free, and Dying Light is rather good, right? Well, yes. But it’s also important to realise what these expansions mean, and just how far this budding series has come in the relatively short span of just one game. After all, Dying Light has been ten years in the making. (via PC Games News)
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