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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds introduces Events with 8-player squads

@jeffgrubb

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds continues to grow and change, and this week its designers are testing a feature that enables you to experience the last-player-standing shooter in fresh ways. Late last night, the PUBG Corp. studio announced that it is rolling out a mode called Events on its test server. This is a alternative to the vanilla game that will remix rule sets and include limited-time content similar to the Arcade in Overwatch.

The first event is an 8-player squad match, which doubles the size of the standard teams. The studio also doubled the number of rifles so players still have a decent chance to get the equipment they want as eight people all ransack a town for loot at the same time.

“Using the Event Mode, players will be able have Battle Royale experiences otherwise not available in the public matches,” reads a PUBG Corporation blog post on Steam. But it’s designed to be much more than just a preset Custom Game, as Event Mode will feature new content, much of it available in the game only for a limited time.”

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PUBG is still one of the most-played games in the world even if the console-friendly Fortnite: Battle Royale has taken over the zeitgeist. Events could freshen up the PUBG experience for a lot of people, which is crucial for a game trying to retain a playerbase.

I put some time in with the 8-player event last night, and it was a good time. The game changes a lot when you have such large squads, because you’re struggling to get loot since you have fewer people to kill at the start to take stuff from. Later in the match, it’s exhilarating to have multiple huge teams fighting one another. Engagements last longer, danger is almost certainly coming at you from all sides, and even if you get a couple of kills, most of the enemy team is probably still alive and coming for you.

Tension is still a huge factor in 8-player squads, and one of the best moments I witnessed was when I watched the last remaining person on our team fight off waves of enemies from inside a house. Even as more battle royale games hit the market and mimic this style, none of them do moments like that as well as PUBG.