When PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds hit Steam Early Access this year, it was meant to be a standard release, but it soon became one of the biggest games of the year, including getting certain honors that a game like it typically doesn’t get. The title has gotten over 20 million purchases on Steam, and breaks records for how many people play it. So when Microsoft revealed that they made a deal with PUBG Corp to bring the beloved title to the Xbox One, players were thrilled.
Yet, when the game arrived via the Xbox One Game Preview program (basically the Xbox version of Steam Early Access) there were a lot of conflicting reports about how good it was. Some say it plays great, but then people others say it’s a clunky mess, including someone at Forbes, who was not happy at all at the quality of how the game was presented. So…which side is correct?
Well, in a way, they’re both correct. In fact, that’s kind of the point of all this, isn’t it? Whether it’s Steam Early Access or the Xbox Game Preview program, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is still an unfinished game. The point of these programs is for players themselves to test out the systems, mechanics, online play, etc., then let the developers know what they need to do in order to make it better, and that formula has had a great deal of success on Steam. So, it’s not unreasonable to hope it works here too.
Now, yes, there are some things that PUBG Corp should have had straightened out by not, and it’s sad that these issues persist, but that’s the nature of things in this business at times. This is why there was a big uproar when The Game Awards nominated PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for Game of the Year when it’s not even a complete game yet.
So if you’re able to play the game well on Xbox One? Great! If not? Give it time.
