One year after the release for Xbox One, Bluehole now announces their hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) for PlayStation 4 as well. When asked why it took so long, Bluehole has been vague. Our author Schuhmann says: Obviously, Microsoft had a deal with Bluehole behind the scenes.
This is what Bluehole says: PUBG developer Bluehole announced on November 13 that PUBG will be released on PS4 on December 7.
It is said a small team has been developing the PS4 version since the beginning of 2018.
Now that the company is growing and established on Xbox One – now that they are satisfied with the state on Xbox, they decided to focus on a PS4 release. (Via Polygon)
3 Reasons Why the PUBG Release is Quite Strange
This is so weird:
- Ports for PS4 and Xbox One are usually announced and executed at the same time
- PUBG was a huge hit in 2017 and should have come to PS4 as soon as possible to take off
- The release was only announced a month in advance
Something is not going as it normally would. The official reasoning seems absurd. PUBG isn’t doing that great on Xbox One. And the explanation does not clarify why PUBG avoided any comments about the PS4 version for a year and a half.
Let’s first look at the unusual announcement cycle.
The Announcement Cycle of PUBG is Quite Odd
This is how it normally is: When Blizzard wanted to bring Diablo 3 to the Nintendo Switch in 2018, they
- in “March” posted a picture of a light switch with a Diablo head on Twitter. “Switch” is called “Schalter” in German. This was considered a clever reference.
- in August announced that it would be coming in 2018 and Diablo 3 actually released for Switch
- in September announced the release date
- in November actually released the game
This is a “normal process” for a port.
This is how strangely the PUBG for PS4 went:
- In March 2017, the producer of PUBG gave an interview to a Korean gaming site (via Inven) and said they were planning to bring PUBG to PS4 and Xbox One.
- then Bluehole announced at E3 in June 2017 that PUBG would be “launch console exclusive” for Xbox One
- afterwards, Bluehole consistently refused to talk about the PS4 for a year and a half. They stubbornly said: “We have nothing further to announce”
- Then on November 13, 2018, came the news: On December 7, it would begin on PlayStation 4
This all seems very strange.
Everything Seems Strange
What is wrong? Just from the process, it is clear that something is amiss and something has been going on behind the scenes.
There must be some deal in the background that cannot be spoken of.
It stands out: At E3 2017, PUBG was presented as a “console launch exclusive title for Xbox One.” Microsoft did not want to elaborate on what that actually means. PUBG then released on December 12, 2017, for their console.
In addition, there were even rumors in October 2017 (via Bloomberg) that Microsoft was planning an extended exclusivity deal with PUBG that would keep the game permanently away from PS4.
This must have really happened: There is no official confirmation of this and everything is shrouded in mystery.
But apparently, Microsoft bought the “console exclusivity” for a year and simultaneously negotiated with Bluehole that they could not speak of a port until shortly before the deadline.
This is the only way to explain the strange process of the PS4 port of PUBG.
Could there be other explanations? One possibility could be that Sony actually refused to release PUBG as an “Early Access” title in the summer of 2017. Unlike Microsoft, Sony does not have such a “Preview” program.
However, PUBG was indeed a massive hit in 2017, and it is known that Sony has turned a blind eye for such hits before. For example, ARK Survival Evolved, which came to PS4 in December 2016, even though it was still in Early Access status on other platforms.
Moreover, this theory does not explain why Bluehole stubbornly remained silent about a PS4 port for a year and a half.
The Deal in Retrospect
The deal did not benefit anyone: Let’s assume for the moment that there was an exclusivity deal between Microsoft and Bluehole and look at it.
When the deal for console exclusivity was made in the summer or spring of 2017, it looked like a good deal for both sides:
- The small studio Bluehole received support from Microsoft and a strong partnership to distribute and market their game worldwide
- And Microsoft got the biggest hit on the planet at that time, ahead of the competition from Sony
Today, the deal looks strange because Fortnite has since come onto the scene.
- PUBG has been delayed a year on PS4 and is no longer as hot as it once was
- And for Microsoft, the success of Fortnite has made the exclusivity rights to PUBG significantly less attractive – Many players on PlayStation have found an alternative to PUBG. Now there is a feeling that PUBG is an “old game.”
Ultimately, the matter shows that such “console exclusive” deals carry some risks behind the scenes. Especially when they seem so opaque and strange that everyone involved looks like a loser.
