PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds got its second map in December, and while I don’t mind it, a lot of outspoken fans hate it. Developer PUBG Corp. revealed last month that it is responding to that criticism with a third, smaller map. And now, as PUBG celebrates one year since it debuted on Steam in Early Access, the developer has announced that the “4-by-4” map (as they call it) will debut in April as part of a public testing phase.
This new map is a quarter the size of the previous two, which were both 8-by-8 kilometers. As the name suggests, the 4-by-4 is 4 kilometers on each side. In a video, creative director Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene and PUBG Corp. chief executive officer CH Kim talked about their plans for releasing the 4-by-4 map while showing off some of its features. This comes as Greene spoke about the future of PUBG during a presentation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco today.
“We would like to go back to the days when we were developing the game and pursuing open development once more by testing it with our players and completing it together with you all,” said Kim.
Greene made a big point of noting that the studio is rolling out the 4-by-4 map into testing much earlier than the company did with its desert map Miramar. Since launching Miramar, PUBG Corp. has made several tweaks to it in an effort to improve its standing with fans. The complaints focus around the expansive open landscapes that leave players out in the open to anyone who is a good shot with a rifle.
The 4-by-4 should swing hard in the direction of dense spaces with lots of cover and action, but PUBG Corp. doesn’t want to assume it’s going to get it right.
“The first step in that is getting the 4-by-4 map into your hands much earlier,” said Greene. “So we can get your feedback and really improve the map early in development. So when we finally release it, it’s the best it can be.”