We heard you like Battlegrounds
Of the many battle royales that came and went,PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,orPUBG, is easily one of the most recognizable. It helped kickstart the whole movement and even today, it’s still around and kicking. It’s apparently even going for a rebrand.
As spotted byPC Gamer, Krafton recently changed the name ofPlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundson Steam toPUBG: Battlegrounds. So, y’know,PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: Battlegrounds.
When PC Gamer reached out to Krafton to verify the name change, and what it means for the originalPUBGacronym, they got this response:
“Krafton is actively expanding thePUBGbrand through a variety of new experiences set in its universe. RebrandingPlayerUnknown’s BattlegroundstoPUBG: Battlegroundsis the first step in us realizing this vision. Additional titles in the franchise will carry thePUBGname, as you see with our upcoming game,PUBG: New State.”
It might sound wild, but this is the video game industry. Thesame video game industry that saw Valve and Blizzard tusslingover theDefense of the Ancientsname, when thatWarcraft IIImod wanted to break off on its own, and so coinedDota 2. As PC Gamer notes,H1Z1also went through a litany of name changes and rebrands. AndFortnite: Battle Royaleeventually becameFortnite, with its PvE element taking up the subheading ofFortnite: Save the World.
With thePUBGuniverse looking to expand with both the aforementionedNew Statemobile game and the upcoming horror gameThe Callisto Protocol, a condensedPUBGbrand makes sense to me. It would be a little unwieldy to call itPlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundsevery time. But it still led to this beautiful word-collision of double-Battlegroundsmagic.
Is there a middle ground? Do we call itPU:BG, or justPUBG, without theBattlegrounds? Or do we just accept that ourBattlegroundsare now all the moreBattlegrounds-y?
