PUBG: New State gives battle royale a twist on iOS and Android this year

By Eric Abent/Feb. 25, 2021 8:55 am EST

There's a new mobile game on the way from the creators of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and this one is called PUBG: New State. This is not just a mobile take on the mainline PUBG game like PUBG Mobile is, but rather a futuristic take on the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds universe. That means players will be competing on a new map with futuristic weapons and tools at their disposal.PUBG: New State is being developed by PUBG Corp and Krafton, Inc. The two companies say that PUBG: New State "features graphics that push the limits of mobile gaming" via Global Illumination rendering tech, and that the game will feature a weapon customization system that players can tap into by finding customization kits in the in-game world. While the customization feature hasn't been described in-depth yet, Krafton's announcement today says that it will include "performance enhancements, fire mode selection, and grenade launcher attachments," so it may be somewhat similar to the customization features in Apex Legends.

In any case, the free-to-play PUBG: New State is set in the year 2051 on a new map called TROI. We'll apparently get new details on the PUBG universe, so if you've ever wondered what the lore behind PUBG is, you might actually learn it in this game. Being set in the near-future, players will be able to use tools like drones and a "futuristic ballistic shield" to help them win battle royale matches. Krafton says that TROI is an 8x8 map, so it should be around the size of Erangel and Miramar from PUBG proper.

PUBG: New State will be launching on iOS and Android later this year, and pre-registration is open today on the Google Play Store – Krafton promises that pre-registration for iOS is coming soon. While it seems that PUBG Corp and Krafton intend to have PUBG: New State exist alongside PUBG Mobile, this also seems to be a move to get a PUBG mobile game back on app stores in India as well, which banned PUBG Mobile last year because of the game's ties to Chinese megacorporation Tencent.

So, we're getting a new PUBG mobile game later this year, and it looks like it's going to be a fair bit different from what's currently on offer. We'll let you know when more is revealed, but for now, PUBG fanatics can hit that pre-registration link over at the Google Play Store.