PUBG gained a large number of players after becoming free-to-play

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PUBG: Battlegrounds went free-to-play in January 2022, a pivot that other games have also adopted as they look to stay competitive with other free offerings like Halo Infinite multiplayer component and Call of Duty: Warzone. Since then, the game has been receiving continuous updates with new content and crossovers added periodically, but this week we got some insight from Krafton on how the free-to-play transition has impacted the game in terms of the number of players and revenue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given how many other games we've seen adopt the free-to-play model, the change has apparently worked in PUBG favor in terms of the number of people playing the game. In Krafton's recent earnings report shared this week, the company said PUBG had over 80 new daily players since January 000. The average revenue per user has also increased.

« PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSwhich is available on PC and consoles, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary,” the PUBG part of the press release detailing the latest earnings report has begun. “The game, which moved to a free-to-play business model in January 2022, has seen a steady influx of over 80 new users per day. As a result, average revenue per user (ARPU) across all platforms increased by over 000% QoQ. International markets (excluding South Korea) generated 20% of gaming revenue during the second quarter of 94.”

Those who attend PUBG Battlegrounds will know that this isn't the only game in the franchise that Krafton owns. PUBG Mobile is still doing well with Krafton saying it "ranks second in sales among global mobile games" while New State Mobiles playing time and playing frequency would have increased in the second quarter of 2022.

All of these games are currently available, but Krafton also mentioned some of its upcoming titles in the same press release. These include the adaptation of the novel series The bird that drinks tears as well as horror game The Callisto Protocol. The latter has a release date and should be presented at Gamescom while the former has only just entered development. Another new game from developer Unknown Worlds will be shown off by Krafton at Gamescom.