New "Lite" PUBG is Easier on PC and Free-to-Play

PUBG is still a thing and is shockingly still the second-biggest Battle Royale game out there, which means they’ve still got thousands of players all over the world shooting each other up in a number of exotic and not-so-exotic locations (and earning a billion dollars of revenue in the process). But PUBG has been trying to play catch-up ever since Fortnite snuck in and stole the crown from on top of its head, and if there was one area that PUBG just couldn’t beat Fortnite in, it was price: you have to throw down $30 to enter the arena in PUBG, while Fortnite lets you join the fun absolutely free.

However, that looks as if it could be changing, as right now in Thailand they’ve announced a brand-new free-to-play version of PUBG, called a “lite version.”

In the lite version of the game, you can only play on one map, called Erangel, with solo, duo, and square modes at your disposal, although it’s looking as if more content will be added at a later date, if these preliminary tests go well. But the biggest – and strangest – change to the lite version is that it actually lowers the specs you’d need to play the game: making it easier to play for computers and laptops “with integrated graphics”.

So not only is the lite version lite on price and content, but it’s also pretty lite on your processor. That… is a pretty interesting strategy you’ve got right there, PUBG.

While right now this version is exclusive to Thailand, it looks as if it were designed to support other regions as well, so many are considering a broader expansion an inevitability at this point. I’m not sure it’s enough to make PUBG a proper competitor for Fortnite, of course, but it will certainly bring in new players: PUBG still has some name recognition, after all, and curious Fortnite players might be keen to try the game that started it all…

…or they might not. Who knows?