PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is now in both of the major console subscription services. The battle royale shooter joined Xbox Game Pass back in November 2018. Now, Sony is adding PUBG to its equivalent PlayStation Now service.
PUBG is still one of the most-played games in the world. On Steam, it has more than 500,000 peak concurrent players each day. Now, on console, it is more accessible than ever since players can get it by just paying $10 per month for either Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Now.
But, of course, PlayStation Now is not just a subscription service. This means you can stream the PS4 version of PUBG from Sony’s cloud without having to download. So if you just want to hop into the game to check it out without having to commit the hard drive space, that’s an option for you.
PlayStation Now is an alternative to free-to-play for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Going to a subscription service is a new step in the life of a premium-priced live-service game. PUBG is $30, and it continues to sell well when it goes on discount. But at this point, the game is not adding new players at the rate it was in its first year.
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This puts developer The PUBG Corporation in a tough spot. PUBG is selling too well to make the game free-to-play. But the premium price is making it difficult to grow in the face of competition like Fortnite or Apex Legends.
But that’s where services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now come in. They offer a way to bring in new players that potentially never would spend money upfront on a game like PUBG. But as part of a $10-per-month subscription, maybe some of those same players might try the game out.
The subscription services also have a network effect. Friends in a social groups encourage one another to get PlayStation Now so they can play multiplayer games together. That’s something that could really benefit PUBG, which then also has in-game cosmetics to generate additional revenue.
