PUBG Lite, the slimmed-down, free-to-play version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds that will look to challenge Fortnite at the top of the Battle Royale genre, has launched beta testing.
PUBG Lite is designed to run on less powerful PCs, but still be able to offer the complete PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds experience. The beta will only feature the original map Erangel, with Solo, Duo, and Squad options.
The scaled-back version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be a completely standalone game compared to the paid version. There will be a separate development team to work on exclusive content, including maps and other features that will eventually arrive to PUBG Lite from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
The PUBG Lite beta is only available in Thailand, with PUBG Corp. to decide whether to expand the game to other regions in the future.
The minimum specs for PUBG Lite are:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i3 2.4GHz
RAM: 4GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000
HDD: 4GB
While the recommended specs are:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 2.8GHz
RAM: 8GB
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870
HDD: 4GB
In comparison, the minimum specs of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 or AMD FX-6300
RAM: 8GB
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R7 370
HDD: 30GB
While the recommended specs are:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
RAM: 16GB
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
HDD: 30GB
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds requires double the RAM, more expensive graphics cards, and bigger hard drive space compared to PUBG Lite.
With PUBG Lite, PUBG Corp. is looking to better challenge Fortnite. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds earned $1.035 billion in 2018 according to SuperData, but that is less than half what Fortnite made at $2.4 billion. Fortnite‘s free-to-play model gives it a boost over PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and PUBG Corp. will look to eliminate that advantage with PUBG Lite.
The move to start beta testing in Thailand, meanwhile, shows Asia’s importance to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. China is the game’s biggest constituency, and it is also very popular in India.
PUBG Corp., however, said that PUBG Lite is for players in areas where the required specifications of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are harder to achieve due to available hardware. This may mean that PUBG Lite will never be released in the United States, but that remains unclear until the studio makes an official announcement.
