The highly anticipated 2018 roadmap for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been delivered, detailing planned additions and changes for the battle royale game for the upcoming year. The lengthy roadmap broadly covers PUBG Corp.'s agenda, including forthcoming content additions, system reworks, and even thoughts regarding PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' eSports scene.

Content is king, so it should be no surprise that planned additions to the game were the most prominent part of the PUBG roadmap. First up is a brand new 4x4 kilometer map, a quarter of the size of Erangel and Miramar, designed for faster, action-packed rounds. This small map will come to a new Experimental Test Server in April, but a second, standard-sized 8x8 map is also in development for a 2018 release, but is not yet ready to be shown.

There's more than just two new 2018 maps in the works, though. PUBG Corp. is working on an all-new emote feature, replete with an emote wheel so players can bow, wave, dance, and taunt as necessary mid-game. New vehicles and weapons are in-development, including the FN FAL. And customization options will continue to be added throughout the year, including skins for parachutes and weapons.

PUBG Corp. is also teasing new game modes for later in 2018, but doesn't go into detail about what those modes may entail.

playerunknown's battlegrounds 2018 roadmap 4x4 small map

Not all content will be entirely new; much of what's planned for 2018 will be reworked content currently in the game, some of which has been long-requested by the PUBG player base. Of special interest are reworked parachuting and unarmed melee combat systems, both of which have been heavily criticized. Even larger is an overhaul of the entire Third Person and First Person mode animation system to increase smoothness and reactiveness, including new animations for switching car seats or entering a vehicle.

Outside of direct gameplay changes, PUBG Corp. is still hard at work. In-game achievements and a friends list, as well as squad voice chat, are each going to be added in 2018. And server stability, connection speeds, and dealing with cheaters remains the studio's first priority in 2018.

For competitive PUBG players, the team is already working on improving the current MMR ranking system and matchmaking. No forward-facing changes appear to be planned, like a reworked leaderboard system or publically-shared MMR, but maintaining a competitive environment is clearly still in PUBG Corps.' periphery.

playerunknown's battlegrounds 2018 roadmap - new gun

Finally, PUBG Corp. dedicated itself to a routine schedule for major patches in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. From here on, major patches are planned to be released on a 2-month schedule, with the first such patch planned for March. Smaller patches and hotfixes will continue to be released as needed, especially as the Experimental Test Server grows in use.

Today's 2018 roadmap for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is hopefully everything players have been hoping to hear for some time. Certain topics commonly discussed by the community may have been absent from the roadmap, like balance and crates, but those were likely beyond the scope of the roadmap. Also at issue is the lack of a more specific release schedule, perhaps betraying PUBG Corp.'s lack of dedication to these plans.

Nevertheless, PUBG players now have a document with which to hold PUBG Corp. accountable and PUBG Corp. has made public their plans to keep fans happy. And that kind of transparency in development is exactly what fans have wanted for a long time now from PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is available now on PC and Xbox One.