An option to pick which map you’d like to play will indeed come to Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, developers PUBG Corp. have confirmed, but not in time for the game’s launch out of early access. Right now on the test servers, which feature both the original island map Erangel and its desert-y sibling Miramar, players don’t get to pick which map and weather/time-of-day variant they’re placed on. Well, officially they don’t: unofficially, many players will quit if they don’t like the map, resulting in smaller Battles Royale for those who stay. I’ll be glad to have this resolved. (more…)

Good news, Plunkchums: both the old island and the new desert maps are now live in the test version of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. Both Erangel and Miramar, to use their real names, are on the test servers all the way through the Battle Royale ’em up’s exit from early access on December 20th. Previous tests have only had one or the other. The game will randomly select a map when each match begins, as there’s (currently?) no official way to select one. I don’t want to quit the test servers because it feels so much more like a finished game (well, except for the lag and crashes) but I have missed Erangel a bit so grand, mix it up and let’s go. (more…)

Welcome to the Steam Charts. Here are the headlines. (more…)

It s snowing outside my window, but on my screen all I see is sand. I m one of 5 remaining players, and the circle of safety is much larger than it usually is by the time a round reaches this point. I can hear a sniping war going on to my right and since I ll have to run across the rocky expanse in front of me soon anyway, I choose that moment to make a break for it.

Of course, I get shot down the moment I start running. I m playing on the new desert map in Playererunknown s Battlegrounds and this is still the same old Plunkbat – only now there are no bushes for me to cower in.

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After months of anticipation, you can finally run, vault and climb around Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds new desert map. Miramar is now live on the test servers, and you’ve got until 10am GMT on Sunday before they’re switched off again. There’s also a new trailer that shows it all off, which should delight anyone who’s a fan of Inception/Mass Effect ‘BWONG’ noises.

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After months of teases and screenshots, the curtain has finally been pulled back on Playerunknown s Battlegrounds desert map, which will be joining the island when Plunkbat leaves early access. It will be in the 1.0 test servers before that, however. It s got a name now, too! I mean, we re all going to keep calling it the desert map, probably, but its proper name is Miramar, which means sea-view . Lovely!

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Playerunknown s Battlegrounds test servers went offline on the weekend, casting players back to a world where climbing over fences is something people can only dream about. It s a time for mourning, then, but also for celebration, as the test servers will be coming back, and with them will come the long-anticipated desert map and a new shotgun.

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The tail-end of Steam’s Autumnal sale sees a few old favourites lingering with the usual suspects in the charts this week. The discounts that got them here are all gone now, but it’s only a couple of weeks now before everything goes completely bonkers for the Winter Sale, and you can expect to see all the same names deeply discounted once more. (more…)

Version 1.0 of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds has once again returned to the test servers. The 100-player Battle Royale ’em up still isn’t ready to launch in full but if you fancy parkouring all over with the new climbing & vaulting system or blasting new guns with a new ballistics model, hey, you have another few days to play around before the test servers shut down again. This week’s test build hasn’t changed much since the last one — and rubberbanding lag still seems a real problem, especially at the start of rounds — but I’ll certainly be rounding up the lads to leap and lark about. (more…)

Hey ho, chart fans, let’s go. Statman John is indisposed today, and was last seen meandering along the seafront muttering “Plunkbat! They give me Plunkbat! I’ve a grand idea for a grand theft five five fi-diddly-fi fi whoopsadaisy down we go,” so I’m taking over for this week’s Steam charts. Seeing as he’s always griping about the charts being identical, I’m sure John will be infuriated to miss seeing how much Steam’s autumn sale changed things. Won’t you join for me a stroll down the hit parade? (more…)