PUBG: Battlegrounds celebrated its seventh anniversary this yr, and it’s nonetheless going sturdy. The free-to-play battle royale shooter has welcomed hundreds of thousands of gamers from round the world throughout these seven years, and the growth workforce has been targeted on releasing new content material and updates to maintain that large neighborhood engaged.
“The important thing factor that I’ve discovered over the previous seven years is how necessary followers are,” stated Taehyun Kim, Manufacturing Director of PUBG: Battlegrounds. “Our sport has been serviced globally and it has been performed in lots of nations and by many individuals round the world. So we maintain on the lookout for methods to fulfill various nations and various followers.”
Kim has been a member of the PUBG workforce since its preliminary section of growth in 2016. He labored his method as much as Manufacturing Director, the place he’s now accountable for guiding all elements of the sport’s progress. We acquired an opportunity to take a seat down and chat with him in Cologne, Germany, the place he and his workforce had been available for gamescom.
All through our dialogue, Kim pressured how important he thinks it’s for builders to remain in touch with their participant base. He’s even been going out of his consolation zone to interact with followers publicly in new methods.
“I had a livestream with Korean customers, and it was actually, actually difficult,” Kim stated. “I’m a developer, not an expert emcee, so I used to be afraid. ‘Oh, what if I make a mistake in entrance of this many individuals in actual time?’ However I feel, of course it’s troublesome, however I have to maintain difficult myself and I’ve to proceed this effort.”
That effort is one of the causes he got here to Cologne. He attended PUBG: Sizzling Drop Cologne, an in-person occasion that allowed followers to fulfill the sport’s devs, companions, and different particular friends. It was one of the first occasions Kim has had direct contact with Western gamers, which is one thing he desires to proceed to enhance at.
“I’m Korean, and I’m extra comfy talking in Korean, so I’ve been speaking with Korean customers utilizing livestreaming,” he stated. “However that was variety of my preparation to extra successfully talk with Western and English-speaking customers. Presently we’re trying ahead and we’re taking a look at alternative ways to extra successfully talk with our customers round the world. So beginning with this gamescom, we’re going to maintain persevering with this effort to speak with our followers.”
In fact, constructing a neighborhood depends on greater than devs connecting with gamers. It’s additionally about permitting gamers to kind connections with one another. August was Clan Month, which added weekly clan challenges and a brand new rewards system. It additionally allowed gamers to hitch the fan clans of eight well-liked esports groups. All of it builds to a particular event at the finish of the month, when clan members get the probability to workforce up with skilled gamers.
“For the clan system, what we need to supply to our gamers is to create an surroundings the place they will create a brand new neighborhood and so they can get pleasure from the sport collectively, they will full the missions collectively, and get the rewards collectively,” Kim stated. “So doing this, they will get pleasure from the sport with extra enjoyable with their squadmates and their clan members.”
Kim and his workforce additionally know that for a neighborhood to remain lively, they want updates and new content material. He pressured that he and the dev workforce have a transparent design philosophy and are very cautious about what truly will get integrated into the sport.
“By our communication occasions in Korea, I’ve discovered that what’s extra necessary is to not do one thing massive, however to do one thing persistently,” he stated. “Our theme is survival, so we don’t need to undermine this core gameplay.”
With a participant base as big and various as PUBG’s, participant suggestions comes from each nook of the world. Completely different gamers need various things, some of which instantly contradict one another. So Kim and his workforce need to at all times maintain that design philosophy in thoughts.
“For us, neighborhood suggestions is essential, however we’re getting so much of suggestions from many nations and from many varieties of customers,” he stated. “Typically, suggestions may be very totally different, even for only one characteristic. So we expect what’s necessary is we have to incorporate the suggestions which is extra related to our sport and in addition we have to set a benchmark that the incorporation course of shouldn’t undermine our core gameplay.”
As at all times, PUBG: Battlegrounds has lots for gamers to stay up for. A zombie mode is on the method, an improve to Unreal Engine 5 is in the works long-term, and Kim stated there are plans for many of different issues that he can’t reveal but. If you wish to get in on the motion, you may obtain PUBG: Battlegrounds without spending a dime on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Sequence X/S, and a cellular model is offered on iOS and Android.