Extraction shooters are all the rage right now, with Arc Raiders putting up ridiculous numbers on Steam — and for good reason, just check out our review — while Escape From Tarkov, the grandaddy of the genre, has just been released on Steam.
Enter PUBG, arguably the founder of standalone battle royales, at least when it comes to video games. PUBG: Black Budget is an upcoming extraction shooter from PUBG Corporation, and it has a closed alpha playtest happening from December 12-14, and 19-21. You can sign up via the game’s Steam page.
“PUBG: Black Budget redefines the extraction shooter genre with a focus on exploration and discovery rather than pure survival and combat,” reads a press release. “Set on Coli, a mysterious island trapped in a time loop and consumed by a supernatural phenomenon known as the Anomaly, players will face various PvPvE threats while seeking top-secret technology and unraveling the truth behind the black-budget initiative, SAPIENS.”
One interesting feature from the Steam page, that other extraction shooters typically don’t include, is that PUBG: Black Budget will have a gradually shrinking playable area. This is a mechanic usually found in battle royale games, intended to force players into PvP combat. Initial reactions online aren’t great, with one Reddit user reckoning it’s “not the best idea,” with a reply assuming they’re “throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks.”
Additionally, the longer you spend “in the loop”, the more the difficulty increases, although the description doesn’t specify how. Possibilities include PvE enemies becoming tougher or bigger, badder enemies appearing the longer a match lasts, players taking increased damage or becoming weaker, or some other form of player-nerf mechanics. Other reactions are pessimistic, including concern about cheaters, and claims that PUBG Corporation is “so poorly run.”
There is no confirmed release date for PUBG: Black Budget yet, other than the Steam playtest next month. Anyone who partakes can “freely stream, capture, and share gameplay content throughout the testing period,” and keys to play the game can be earned via Twitch drops.
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