Final Version Of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds Delayed To Q4 2017
Despite its massive popularity among PC gamers in recent months, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is still a work in progress. The version everybody’s playing consists of just one map. The final version, currently being concocted by Wisconsin studio Bluehole, will have more maps, weapons and content.
The original plan was for the beta to last six months, but series creator Brendan Greene (“Playerunknown” himself) announced on Steam late last night that he has no choice but to delay the officially completed version for a few weeks. However, he still believes he can deliver a finished version by the end of the year.
Said Greene, “I’ve come to realize that restricting the window to a specific month could hinder us from delivering a fully featured game and/or lead to disappointment within the community if the launch deadline is not met. We have decided that we are going push the full launch back a bit from the initial six-month timeframe, but want to assure you that we are still planning a full release before the end of Q4 2017.”
Originally the PC version of Battlegrounds was projected to go gold in early September, followed by a console rollout beginning with the XBox One in late 2017. Now that date will be when the PC version is finished, so presumably this means a delay for the XBox version into 2018.
One of the reasons cited by Greene for the delay is the game’s own success — it’s meant a rapid expansion for Bluehole and they’ve been partly occupied with growing the studio’s size. As he said on Twitter later, “It takes time to find the right people for the team.”