Plunkbat is getting a premium Battle Pass system now

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds is getting a new time-limited progression system where you level up a pass by playing the game, netting yourself rewards as you… hang on a moment. Didn’t I just write this? Though they’re quite similar, there are some differences between the passes. Plunkbat’s ‘Event Pass’, for instance, is way more insistent about getting you to drop cash on it.

If you don’t want to spend money on it, you’ll still be able to get rewards from the pass, but aside from a single item, you won’t be able to keep any of them. To keep them, you’ll need to pay for the pass and play through missions to level it up. You can participate in the missions regardless, and the game will track your progress, so if you buy the pass after finishing a few, you’ll still get the rewards.

Like the crate and key system, it’s technically free, but not really. If it seems like something designed for a F2P game, that's because it is. It makes a lot more sense in Fortnite than it does in a paid game like Plunkbat. It could be worse, mind. PUBG Corp could have gone with its other idea.

At one point, we actually considered the option of releasing new content in paid DLC format, including new maps. However, we came to understand that this method has some critical drawbacks. Mainly, it divides the entire player base into separate groups depending on whether they’ve purchased map DLC. It would also keep a huge portion of players from enjoying the biggest additions to the game. As such, at The Game Awards 2017, we promised that all battle royale maps will be provided to all of our players for free, not as DLC.

The first pass will launch alongside Sanhok on June 22. It will include an item set themed around Sanhok, and you’ll be able to work your way through it for about four weeks, completing daily, weekly and Sanhok-specific missions. Read our Sanhok guide for more on the new island.

Plunkbat is also 33% cheaper until July 5.