Welcome to the ultimate battle for life and death…

In development for PC using Unreal Engine 4, the standalone game will expand the core Battle Royale experience enjoyed by millions of players into a highly competitive player vs. player (PvP) game in a dynamic open world. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will put up to 64 players on a remote island for a winner-takes-all showdown where strategic gameplay is as important as shooting skills. Players will enter a last-man-standing battle where they try to locate weapons, vehicles and supplies in a graphically and tactically rich battleground that eventually forces players into a shrinking safe area as they engage in a tense and spectacular fight to the death.

As part of the collaborative development process, PlayerUnknown has relocated to Bluehole’s Korean HQ from his native Ireland to serve as the creative director on the project at Bluehole while maintaining close contact with the grassroots community that has supported his projects.

When the match starts, players have no items or weapons. To progress, they can try to commandeer a vehicle to discover a high-value location, search for weapons or employ other diversified tactics with a goal of being the last man standing. All weapons can be upgraded with attachments such as sights and suppressors and both road and off-road vehicles will be available to players.

Bluehole and Brendan Greene (aka PlayerUnknown) announced the start of the game’s Closed Beta Test (CBT). The CBT begins today, February 24 and will be open for four weeks, ending on March 19, 2017 with servers up from Friday to Sunday each week.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds CBT Weekends Include:

• February 24-26: The first weekend will include SOLO games only, and 10% of them will have the rainy weather setting turned on.
• March 3-5: The second weekend will focus on DUOs only with 10% the games having the rainy weather setting turned on.
• March 10-12: The third weekend will be a mix of DUOs & SOLO games and will again feature the weather effects.
• March 17-19: Plans for the final weekend will be announced at a later date.

As for what to expect from the CBT, you can find the major changes below:

• World Level Design: All of the main Erangel map areas have been completed and implemented. Since the last testing phase, we’ve added a swamp area, flooded town, logging site, ruins, power plant, underground bunkers, quarry and a shooting range. We have also completed the main military installation and added a river that cuts through the main island. While all of these areas can now be found on the map, we intend to continue polishing them over the course of the CBT.
• Lighting: Real-time global illumination has been completed and implemented, providing for a much more realistic lighting effect.
• Animation: We’ve reworked our entire animation system to create a much more realistic experience. This new set of animations impact all character motion and movement. We’ve also added new reload animations for all 17 types of weapons.
• Gun Play: A more precise recoil system has been implemented, allowing the player to better control each weapon based on their various characteristics. We’ll continue to tune gun mechanics throughout the CBT.
• Level Streaming: Through level streaming, you will now experience a smoother gameplay experience, particularly for those with lower RAM specifications.
• User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): We have spent the last three months completely redesigning both our UI & UX for inventory management and game interface. The new interface will be much more intuitive and easier to use when in the heat of battle.
• Destructible Environments: In the CBT you will be able to destroy doors and fences. We plan to increase the number of destructible objects that in the future.

In addition, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will enter Steam’s Early Access program shortly after the test.

When we first started planning our launch, it was our goal to transition from Closed Beta directly into a full launch of the game. Following our second Alpha, we had several discussions on the topic, to gauge what best fits BATTLEGROUNDS. We decided to enter Early Access first, with a full launch later this year. Given how much our philosophy revolves around developing this game alongside our community, we feel that Early Access is a good fit. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with all of you as we constantly strive to improve the game.

As far as monetization is concerned, know that we eventually intend to give the player options to purchase cosmetic items only. However, until the game is out of Early Access, our development resources will be focused entirely on improving the Battle Royale game mode. Only then will we consider the addition of in-game purchases.

We plan to go into Early Access shortly after the CBT has come to completion. While we don’t yet have a date set for when this will happen, we wanted to make you aware now, so we can address any concerns you may have.

During Early Access, we’ll give certain users the ability to create Custom Games. Custom games allow players to create their own versions of the Battle Royale experience. This includes giving them the option of setting the number of teammates, the type of weather, the looting limitations and various other game options. Our initial goal is to properly test this feature first among a smaller group of players. If all goes well, we’ll gradually release it to the greater playerbase. We’ll give you all more details on custom games once we begin implementing this feature.

We’re not yet certain how long we’ll remain in Early Access, but our goal is for Battlegrounds to hit full launch within six months. Upon launch, the Battle Royale game mode will be complete, and we’ll have implemented full modding support. We have a lot of additional content planned for launch, and we’re excited to reveal it all to you over the coming months.