PUBG is copying one of the best things about Fortnite
Hot on the heels of the reveal that PUBG's long-awaited third map, Sanhok, will be arriving this Friday, PUBG Corp has made another big announcement. The company today revealed a new way to earn cosmetics, and it's calling it the Event Pass. If you're a Fortnite player, you likely already know where this is going, but you also know that probably isn't a bad thing.
To hear PUBG Corp explain the Event Pass over in a new Steam post, it sounds like it has a lot in common with Fortnite's Battle Pass. Players who purchase an Event Pass will be able to unlock in-game cosmetics by completing daily and weekly challenges, which is precisely what the Battle Pass does in Fortnite. The first PUBG Event Pass will be going live on June 22, the day Sanhok is available.
Details are still fairly slim at this point, but PUBG Corp says that it's "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 that is different from the create and key system." If you don't purchase the Event Pass, you'll still be able to unlock many of its mission rewards temporary, with PUBG Corp saying that everyone will be able to unlock "one special item permanently," regardless of purchase status
If you do purchase the Event Pass, however, the items you unlock will be yours to keep. You'll unlock items by completing missions and "leveling up" your pass, and it sounds like there will be plenty of missions to complete. The first Event Pass will be available for around four weeks, and you can purchase it at any time to unlock the rewards you've earned permanently.
Fortnite's Battle Pass works almost exactly the same way, but each one covers an entire ten-week season. That PUBG is looking to Fortnite for inspiration here isn't a bad thing, though, because we've said in the past that Fortnite's Battle Pass is an excellent way to offer microtransactions. The difference, of course, is that PUBG costs $30 on Steam and Fortnite is free-to-play, so PUBG Corp might get some push back from players because of that.
As this first Event Pass is launching alongside Sanhok, many of the rewards it offers will be Sanhok-themed. PUBG Corp says that those rewards won't be tradeable, so PUBG fanatics will definitely want to consider purchasing a pass before they miss their chance at these items. We don't know how much the Event Pass will cost yet, but it sounds like we'll have more information on launch day, so stay tuned.