PlayStation targets PUBG date

PUBG Corp and PlayStation are offering a PUBG menu theme among pre-order bonuses for the PS4 edition. — AFP Relaxnews

After debuting on PC, making its mark on mobile, and spending a year on Xbox, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is coming to PlayStation 4 on Dec 7.

When PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds arrives on PlayStation 4, it'll be contending with over a year's worth of fandom for free competitor Fortnite, as well as the more recent releases of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Fallout 4 and more.

Perhaps that's why PlayStation is teaming up with PUBG Corp to offer a physical Blu-Ray release and not one but three digital editions – plus pre-order bonuses that let players sport clothes and backpacks from hit PlayStation franchises Uncharted and The Last Of Us.

It's also been thought that "PUBG" on PlayStation 4 might feature in some capacity at Dec 6's combined awards gala and promotional preview event, The Game Awards, and a Dec 7 date certainly fits in with that assessment.

The Xbox One edition of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds launched out of an early access programme on Dec 12, 2017, making it just short of 52 weeks since then when "PUBG" debuts on console rival, the PlayStation 4.

After both launched in late 2013, the PlayStation 4 is understood to have demonstrated its victory over the Xbox One's total sales tally by October 2015, when Microsoft stopped publishing sales figures.

However, Xbox is now moving to make the best of a new cycle in which big PlayStation 4 exclusives are less frequent – perhaps due to a potential 2019 PlayStation 5 announcement – while the Xbox One continues to push recent and upcoming exclusives.

At the weekend, Xbox moved to preserve its established "PUBG" advantage by announcing it would be included in the US$9.99 (RM41.86) monthly Xbox Game Pass (a separate US$9.99 Xbox Live subscription is required for general online multiplayer). – AFP Relaxnews