PUBG is adding an 8 on 8 team deathmatch mode
Respawn's on, folks
Despite making its name as a last man standing game of 30-ish minute rounds, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds has dabbled with speeding up its matches over the years. It hasn't quite outrun the "running simulator" pejorative because apparently I'm one of the few folks that actually enjoys having sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate while tactically sneaking from bush to bush as the play area narrows. Everyone else wants more action and fast.
PUBG Coprp have attempted a team deathmatch mode before but it didn't stick back in 2018. TDM is back, for real this time, in the form of two teams of 8 shooting it out on small slices of PUBG's existing maps.
The new TDM mode will be added to the PUBG Arcade section of the menu. You can bring a full squad of 8 if you've got one or just be matched with other players randomly as usual. They've carved out seven smaller battlegrounds from PUBG's existing maps each with slightly different play styles in mind. Sanhok's docks will have you running and gunning between the shipping containers while the Sosnovka Military Base on Erangel will send you through those various warehouses we've been battling in for years.
Respawning is turned on for TDM of course. Players will be invulnerable for a short period after respawning to help protect against spawn-camping and the game will attempt to spawn you in a non-contested area close to other teammates if possible. Friendly fire is disabled for TDM as are knockdowns. You'll just die and respawn as needed rather than having a teammate run into crossfire to revive you. You'll have eight possible Spawn Kits (read: loadouts) to choose from. The first team of eight players to reach 50 kills (or the most kills after the 10 minute timer ends) will win the round. Victory in two rounds will secure a match win.
Alice played and enjoyed PUBG's earlier attempt from 2018 called War Mode, though it was quite different, with many teams of five all shooting and respawning around one another. She said that rounds were "long enough to get invested in, short enough to not drag." Although the new TDM has larger teams, the max round time of 10 minutes and max total match time of 30 is sure to speed things up and let folks take some risks knowing they'll just respawn five seconds later.
You can read the rest of the details about PUBG's new TDM mode coming in the 6.2 update on the PUBG website.