PUBG Lite beta tests free-to-play version in Thailand; to take on Fortnite

With PUBG Lite, Tencent is looking to take on Fortnite, which entered much later into the battle royale game category, but inched past in both popularity as well as revenue generation.

Pranav Hegde

January 28, 2019 / 19:14 IST

PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds aka PUBG’s developer Tencent is working on a Lite version of the game which is currently being tested in Thailand. The scaled-down version, dubbed PUBG Lite, is said to be a free-to-play game and can be run on computers with significantly low specs.

With PUBG Lite, Tencent is looking to take on Fortnite, which entered much later into the battle royale game category, but inched past in both popularity as well as revenue generation.

While PUBG generated over $1 billion in revenue since launch, Fortnite, despite of its late arrival, inched ahead with revenues estimated to be around $2.4 billion. It is said that the free-to-play model with optional purchases is said to have worked for Fortnite. It can be played on low-end devices too.

“Our goal for PUBG LITE is simple: Deliver the PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS experience to players in areas where the core game’s required specifications are more difficult to achieve due to the hardware available. To this end, the PUBG LITE team has focused on balancing lower hardware requirements, without compromising on our quality standards. The end result is a build that is playable even on computers and laptops utilising integrated graphics”, Tencent stated on its website.

PUBG PC, on the other hand, is not free to play and needs good specifications for smooth gameplay. The Lite version will be a standalone game, and the company stated that there would be a dedicated team for the development of the game. The game will have only one map- Erangel and other features from the full version of the game will be trimmed down. The game will have Solo/Duo/Squad in TPP (Third Person Perspective) mode.