Why fog makes PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds even better

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is the biggest game in the hot new Battle Royale genre. From the beginning, I’ve made the point that PUBG works better than the competition because Bluehole Studio limits players in creative ways to increase tension and to encourage tactical play. Now, the developer has introduced fog that will engulf the map in a thick soup at random times, increasing the tension and tactical play.

Bluehole added fog in an update last week, and it shows up less frequently than some of the other weather conditions. But when you do get into a fog match, it amplifies everything that makes Battlegrounds work. This isn’t some graphical flourish on the skybox. The fog has a physical presence that limits visibility. Anything more than a couple dozen meters away blends into the white vapor cloud, and that changes the characteristics of long-range firefights. Snipers no longer have a supreme advantage in all circumstances, and maintaining a high level of awareness while also keeping a low profile is more important than ever. But this isn’t a huge shift away from standard matches, because fog is a natural evolution of PUBG’s emphasis on limiting what your player can do.