For the first time, PUBG is on sale on Steam. In celebration of combined Xbox and PC sales of "over 50 million units worldwide", the battle royale has a 33 percent discount from now through July 5.
Ahead of its Sanhok map launch this Friday, PUBG Corp has now also unveiled its 'Event Pass'—a "trackable progression-related system" that lets players unlock new content "in a way that is different from the crate and key system." It'll be rolled out alongside Sanhok on June 22.
In this lengthy Steam Community update, the developer explains that it once considered charging for DLC—"including new maps"—but decided not to divide its players. Instead, the Event Pass lets paying players unlock items on a permanent basis over those who don't.
"The Event Pass is designed to reflect the opinions of players who wanted a trackable progression-related system, and at the same time allows you to unlock new content in PUBG in a way that is different from the crate and key system," explains PUBG Corp here. "Just like the crate and key system, you’ll be able to get rewards in the Event Pass system regardless of whether you made a purchase."
The post adds: "If you haven’t paid for the pass, you can temporarily unlock many of the items (and earn one special item permanently). However, you can also permanently unlock a ton of exclusive reward items by paying to unlock the pass and completing certain missions to 'level up' your pass.
"If you’re hesitant about buying the Pass, but want to play the missions, you’re free to do that. And your mission progress is always tracked, so you can buy the Event Pass late in the event and still get all the rewards you’ve earned."
PUBG Corp says the first Event Pass is Sanhok themed, lasts about four weeks, and includes dozens of daily, weekly and Sanhok-specific missions. Rewards are unlocked by completing missions and levelling up—however these will not be tradable or marketable. "Only those of you who really earn them will get to show them off in-game," adds the dev.
PUBG Corp says more information on the first Event Pass will surface before Sanhok's launch on Friday.
