PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds toppled Dota 2 to become the most simultaneously played game on Steam. PBUG achieved a unique feat of over 870,000 concurrent players beating not just Dota 2, but also titles like Counter-Strike Global Defensive, GTA V and H1Z1.
What’s unique about PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds?
It was a short-lived victory for PBUG, with Dota 2 reclaiming the top spot later. Battlegrounds is also still far behind the record set by DOTA 2 in March with about 1.3 million players, although its multiplayer mode’s popularity might give it an edge, helping it to reach the new level.
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PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds’ popularity may have been fueled by an invitational for the game featured during Gamescom. Participants came across various surprising in-game moments during the four-day competitive event, which was streamed on Twitch.
Battlegrounds is a simple game in which 100 people parachute onto land, find weapons and kill each other. The one who survives is the winner. The game has been increasing in popularity considerably since it became available on Steam’s Early Access in March.
In related new, a few hours after the record was set by Battleground, its servers began experiencing problems. Game maker Bluehole Studio stated that the servers were facing some kind of technical glitch. Bluehole did not reveal the exact nature of the problem, but it stated that the team is working to get the game back online. Not all players faced the issue simultaneously, as some of them were playing it smoothly, whereas others were exposed to repeated error messages.
What the Xbox One exclusive means
Battlegrounds is all set to arrive on Xbox One exclusively towards the end of this year. Compared to its PC version, Battlegrounds will have some obvious changes for the Xbox One. On the console, players can toggle between weapons by hitting right or left on the D-pad, and the firing rate can be altered by hitting down.
Initially, players will require a little time to get used to these changes. Weapon reloading can be done with the Y button, which is a deviation from the X used by most players. The X button has been mapped for openibg and closing doors and picking up items. As of now, there is no option to change the mapping, notes IGN.
For now, it is not clear what type of exclusivity the Xbox One will enjoy, but a wild guess suggests it will be something similar to 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider.
ShadowPlay to increase online presence
Recently, PC gamers got a new feature allowing them to capture and share their best moments during the game using Nvidia’s ShadowPlay highlights. The new tool is capable of capturing the player’s greatest achievements in video abd screenshots, which can then be shared through Facebook, Imgur and YouTube.
C.H. Kim, vice president and executive producer at Bluehole, said, “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is known for delivering intense, fast-paced action, and for not taking things too seriously.”
Further, the executive said that sharing moments and screenshots from the game will increase its social media presence.
