Deep-Dive: How Does PUBG Make Money

PUBG, or Players Unknown Battlegrounds, is a battle-royale game. It is the type of game where you have to eliminate all the opponents in an area and be the last one standing.

In the game, the player and 99 other players are dropped on an island and forced to parachute down. Once landed, the players have to scavenge for supplies. As time ticks on, the playing area shrinks and forces you to come in contact with other players and battle them. Once all the other players are eliminated, the last man standing is crowned the winner and receives the message ‘Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.’

What’s more? You can play either as a single player or form your own group and battle against others.

The creator behind this gameplay structure is Brendan Green, a former web designer and photographer.

A few years prior to the development of PUBG, Greene created a DayZ mod for the game Arma 3 called DayZ: Battle Royale. The gameplay was inspired by the 2000 Korean movie Battle Royale which featured a story where a group of students were dropped on an island and forced to combat each other and survive. Later, Greene worked on a similar battle-royale concept for H1Z1: King of the Hill by Daybreak Company.

Post this, the game development company Krafton approached Greene to work on a similar project for them. He joined Krafton as the creative director and thus began the development of PUBG with an internal team.

PUBG was initially released for Windows on December 20, 2017. A mobile version of the game was released on 19th March 2018 for both Android and iOS.

PUBG has been among the top-grossing games each year ever since its release.

In fact, in both 2020 and 2021, the game was the highest-grossing game in the world. In 2021, PUBG generated $2.4 billion, and in 2020 $2 billion. Even in 2022, PUBG is the second highest-grossing game in the world behind Honor of Kings.

In terms of lifetime revenue as well, PUBG has witnessed tremendous growth. The game hit $8 billion in lifetime revenue in the first half of 2022, $9 billion in the second half of 2022, and eventually $10 billion in 2023.

PUBG also has a high revenue per day compared to many other games. Based on the latest reports, this figure stands at $8.1 million per day.

But How Does PUBG Make Money in the Millions

The answer is the revenue model that PUBG follows.

Before we get into that, let us explain the basics of the in-game economy of PUBG and some of its currencies.

The core of PUBG’s revenue model is its cosmetic-based economy. You can buy costumes for your characters, such as shoes, hats, shirts, and pants, to dress up your character, and buy skins for your weapons, such as your gun, pan, and grenades. None of these items provide you any advantage to you during gameplay but merely exist for the cosmetic reasons that set you apart from other players.

In fact, there are no pay-to-advance monetization strategies in PUBG. You cannot purchase special weapons or consumable items that provide you an advantage over other players. To obtain any of these, you have to grind during the gameplay.

Furthermore, the monetization model of PUBG is centered around Battle Points (BP) and Unknown Cash (UC).

BP is won through in-game performance. The game calculates BP after each match, taking into consideration the number of kills you have completed during gameplay, the amount of damage taken to health, the total duration of the session, and the final rank. BP can be used in the game to make different purchases.

Meanwhile, UC is not won but purchased using real money. You can buy UC bundles for a pre-set amount of cash and then use the number of UC obtained to purchase items in the game. Some items can only be obtained using UC and not using BP. UC also has a higher purchase value compared to BP.

There is a reason why PUBG’s revenue model is centered around virtual currencies in contrast to real money. Because when you spend using real money, you are bound to make a lot of calculations and will also be less hesitant to spend money. But when the money is converted to virtual currency, the hesitancy is reduced. You start to think that you are not spending real money but virtual money.

Casinos employ a similar trick with poker chips, which also drives you to spend more.

PUBG’s game design itself is an integral part of its revenue model. Let us explore the role of the game’s design in helping how PUBG earns money in the millions:

Easy to Play, Hard to Master

The main reason for PUBG is this: it is damn easy to play.

This might be contrary to the expectations of a lot of gamers. The game looks like a high-fidelity game targeted towards a sub-set of core gamers. But the gameplay is easy to understand for even someone with no prior gaming experience.

One method that PUBG employs is its onboarding. If you are a new player, the game does not match you with elite players. Instead, the game puts you in matches where many bots are present. The bots help you easily learn the game’s ropes while offering you a competitive experience on par with your skill level. This also solves the issue of low-ranking players quitting the game because of being unable to match the skill level of much more experienced players.

The controls of PUBG are also easier. The game developers have designed the game in such a way that the touch controls offer a seamless and intuitive gameplay experience.

At the same time, the game also offers much deeper gameplay. Consider the range of weapons available for you to use in the game. There are different types of assault rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, shotguns, and even a cooking pan.

All these afford committed players a richer and much more competitive gameplay experience. It is also one of the reasons why PUBG is among the biggest ESports on the planet.

Caters to Multiple Needs

Another reason PUBG mobile makes money is that it caters to the needs of different types of users.

For instance, you might be playing the game because of the competitive experience and the opportunity to relax for a few hours post work. Your friend, meanwhile, might be playing just for the social experience of enjoying an adventure with their friends.

Likewise, PUBG also fosters strategic gameplay and rewards different gameplay strategies.

Let’s consider two of them.

One, you choose to parachute down away from the area of the central conflict. This allows you to collect more loot and gives you enough time to slowly enter the gameplay area.

Or, you can choose to parachute down into the area that is central to the conflict. Thus, you will be able to get better loot (because loot is sometimes better in the areas of central conflict), but you run the risk of having to get into repeated battles.

PUBG rewards both of these gameplay strategies. Both have their drawbacks as well.

Progression

Games that often have their monetization models centered around cosmetic-based economies lack progression systems. However, PUBG is one game that does not face this problem.

The chief reason is the implementation of the battle pass system. The battle pass provides a steady set of challenges for you to complete and thus gives you a sense of progression within the game. You get instilled a sense of competency within yourself as you tackle harder and harder challenges.

The Social Experience

Humans are social creatures. For our species, socializing is vital to our survival, and hence social systems are hardwired into our psyche.

Games have recently emerged as an alluring possibility to engage our social systems and meet our social needs. The pandemic is a testament to this, as the popularity of social games shot up during this period as many people turned to games to connect with loved ones and make new connections.

The multi-player gameplay experience in PUBG taps right into this basic human need. Competing against other teams with your friends gives you a sense of being on a common adventure, thus deepening your connection with each other. The chat option further allows you to converse and bring forth the humor and depth that are characteristics of positive conversations.

On a much larger scale, there are leaderboards that you can attempt to climb to the top of. Thus it turns the game into a competitive experience where each potential player is also a rival. This competitiveness also provides a different social experience that is unique to sports, board games, and video games.

Tension

PUBG also has a gameplay session structure that progressively increases the tension. Most of the time, you start in a different area away from the central conflict. You have enough time to collect loot and get supplies.

But as the gameplay progresses, the tension increases. The area starts to shrink, forcing you to move to the playing area and thus come in contact with enemy players. Finally, it builds up to a high-intensity battle that pins you against skilled enemies, with everyone desiring to be the last one standing.

In addition, the game’s playing sessions are longer than in most mobile games. This allows enough time for the tension to slowly build up and be at a rate that creates a challenging atmosphere without being overwhelming.