The battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds continues its PC domination with the game selling over 20 million copies as of last month. Even as the game continues to pass new milestones on a consistent basis, new content is on the horizon in an effort to prevent the possibility of losing players to competitors like Fortnite. While the developer has been hesitant to reveal too much up to this point, fans now know that the official debut for the new desert map is finally coming next week.
Longtime video game media icon Geoff Keighley broke the news earlier this week on his Twitter account, confirming that the gameplay trailer for the long-awaited new PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds desert map can be seen on December 7th during the annual Game Awards event. Details on the new location have been fairly limited to this point, but Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene has released a few screenshots in the past which have confirmed features such as a prison, plenty of vegetation, and urban sprawl.
While the developer has been pretty silent on any new information, dataminers from sites like Reddit have been uncovering potential details regarding the new game location, which is set in South America in an area called Valle Coronado. What's more is that new weapon types have been found digging around the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds game files as well including a sawed-off shotgun, a Winchester style rifle, and a revolver. The shotgun is expected to be an exclusive weapon on the new map, and based on the image provided by the official Twitter account, it might also come with incendiary shells.
While console fans have had to get their battlegrounds style fix through alternative methods like Fortnite for the time being, that is going to change later this month. Xbox One owners are getting the first shot to jump in on consoles as the game is being readied for launch through the Game Preview Program on December 12th. If PUBG is able to overcome the sizable lead that Fortnite has built up on consoles and generate similar success as it already has on Steam, fans shouldn't be too surprised to see Microsoft attempt to extend the timed exclusivity deal to keep the incredibly popular shooter away from Sony.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will launch for Xbox Game Preview on December 12th, and is currently in early access on PC, with a planned release date of late December.
Source: Geoff Keighley