Skip to main content

Watch what happens when ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ teams play in peace

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is already one of the biggest multiplayer games of 2017, even though it’s still in early access, with its official release recently pushed back to the end of the year. The experience hinges upon tense alliances made between competitors, but a new video demonstrates what happens when players attempt to get along with one another.

The clip, produced by gaming commentary channel DooM49, places 50 players in a map and sees them engage in a variety of different activities that don’t involve killing one another. They take part in a destruction derby, go for a quick swim, and even engage in a little target practice.

Recommended Videos

If you’re not familiar with Battlegrounds, it’s something of a spiritual successor to the popular “Battle Royale” mod for DayZ and other multiplayer titles. Up to a hundred players parachute onto an island, and from there on out they’re locked in a deadly contest to gather the best gear and kill off all their competition.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Brendan Greene — better known as PlayerUnknown — was the original creator of the mod, and he eventually decided to turn the game type into its own standalone game. Battlegrounds was the end result, and the title has already amassed a passionate fan base since it was released via Steam early access in March 2017.

The nature of the game means that players can never truly be sure of who they can trust, as anyone they meet in the game world could easily stab them in the back and steal their hard-earned gear. With up to 100 players in a game, forging partnerships with others can be the key to victory, even if these friendships are often quite fragile and temporary.

The high-stakes gameplay of Battlegrounds means that players aren’t typically afforded the opportunity to stop and smell the roses. The actual objective of the game is completely forgotten in the video by DooM49, leaving combatants to demonstrate just how much madcap fun there is to be had within the confines of the map.

If this clip has whetted your appetite to try out Battlegrounds for yourself, the game is available now via Steam early access, and is scheduled to hit the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at some point in the future.

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
If you need a new Nintendo Switch 2 game already, don’t miss Battle Train
A conductor sends a train car forward in Battle Train.

Whenever I get a new video game handheld (there are a lot of them these days), my first goal is always to find my "go-to game." I seek out the kind of replayable puzzlers or roguelikes that I will always keep installed and come back to whenever I don't have anything new to play. On Nintendo 3DS, it was Dr. Mario Miracle Cure. On Nintendo Switch, it was Tetris 99. On Steam Deck, it was Vampire Survivors. And now on Nintendo Switch 2, it's Battle Train.

The new deckbuilding roguelike, published by Bandai Namco, has everything I want from a long-term console staple. It has that all-important "one more run" hook, strategic depth that reveals itself with each attempt, and tons of unlockables. It's right up there with StarVaders as one of 2025's most inventive and purely pleasurable games.

Read more
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s cutscenes are so good, they’ll screen at a film festival
Henry of Skalitz looks at the camera.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has been criticized as an interactive movie, but now it's getting an actual movie of sorts: the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is showing a "cinematic cut" of the game on July 9. Warhorse Studios calls it a "proud moment for games as a serious storytelling medium."

What that cinematic cut will look like is anyone's guess, but unless it's absurdly long, it won't be able to capture the full story. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has somewhere around a dozen hours of cutscenes for just the main story alone, not to mention the many, many sidequests in the game. While it would be hilarious to see viewers roped into a 15-hour-long Let's Play, that seems unlikely.

Read more
Marathon has been delayed indefinitely after rocky Alpha playtest
A Runner getting shot in Marathon.

After hosting an Alpha playtest and taking in community feedback, Bungie has announced that Marathon will no longer be launching on September 23 as was originally planned. Currently, the extraction shooter has no set release date, but the team is committed to hosting more playtests to address community concerns and add new features.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlC31D_Rr-Y&t=6s

Read more