PUBG is looking a little more like Fortnite today. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds just debuted two major changes to the game: the first is a smaller, Fortnite-style map called Sanhok, designed to get you into the action quicker and hopefully make you spend a little less time crouching in corners with a shotgun. The second is an "event pass," a $10 purchase that allows you to unlock cosmetics by completing challenges in much the same way as Fortnite's battle pass. It's a little awkward because a lot of paid fans aren't happy with having to make regular payments of $10 to get the Event Pass, but PUBG's monetization is already all over the map due to being $30 on Xbox and PC and free on mobile. Still, the battle pass has made it clear that a progression overlay can make a game like this a whole lot more engaging. So let's take a look at what's actually inside the envelope with this here event pass.
To start with, this is a Sanhok-oriented item, so there will be some Sanhok-specific content as well as challenges that can be completed on any map. The pass costs $10, but takes place on an accelerated scale when compared to Fortnite: it's here for 30 days, and has 30 cosmetic rewards to match. Some of these rewards are permanent, but some will only be available for 30 days after you acquire it.
The top reward is a pair of floral booty shorts, pictured here with a matching top:
And there's also a stripey convict set in there:
Most of the rest here is pretty straightforward: there are some weapon skins and a shearling jacket, as well as those slick little sunglasses you can see above. You can see the full list here. You'll level up your event pass both through standard play and by completing missions, which are mostly just variants on "kill a player in a place with a thing," and do not yet have any of the non-combat challenges that have marked Fortnite so far. It seems like an appropriately straightforward affair: play the game, get XP, unlock rewards.
All in all, it's not quite as impressive as Fortnite's Battle Pass, both because Fortnite's art style is more conducive to cosmetic rewards and because PUBG still hasn't quite figured out how to stake its dual identity as a free-to-play and a paid game. Mostly this seems like a way to make money off of the millions of new mobile players in China and elsewhere, and I don't see it being a huge thing among the core paid community.
