Playerunknown's Battlegrounds will add desert map in next round of testing

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds’ test servers went offline on the weekend, casting players back to a world where climbing over fences is something people can only dream about. It’s a time for mourning, then, but also for celebration, as the test servers will be coming back, and with them will come the long-anticipated desert map and a new shotgun.

I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a Plunkbat rut, so I’ve not been playing much lately. Despite the occasional chicken dinner, I think I might actually be getting worse, and I’ve started to get a little bitter. A new place to murder people, or be murdered, sounds like just the panacea I’ve been waiting for.

Here’s some arid screenshots to whet your appetite.

From what’s been shown off, the desert seems just as varied as the island we’re more familiar with. There are plenty of horrifyingly flat stretches where running across them surely spells death, but there are also small, ramshackle towns and even some built-up areas that look perfect for snipers.

As for the gun, well, it’s a shotgun, isn’t it? That’s about all I can tell you as a man who has seen a picture. Honestly, I’d be happier with fewer shotguns. I almost always seem to start off with one before getting taken out by someone I could never hope to reach with my silly short-ranged weapon. On the subject of death-dealing instruments, here’s our weapon guide.

There’s no date for the next round of testing but given that Plunkbat is due to leave early access this month, we can assume it’s coming very soon.