It has been a year since PlayerUnknown's Battleground was released, and to celebrate it, PUBG Corp. released an anniversary video thanking fans for the support this past year. The video also showed a new map that players will get to test soon.

New Map To Begin Early Testing

The usual map is at 64 square kilometers. With the 16 new square-kilometer map, the players will have a higher density and the matches will be faster-paced. The new map will give a more intense experience, according to the PUBG 2018 roadmap where it was first mentioned.

As stated in the video, the first step would be to bring the new PUBG 4x4 map to the players earlier than usual. The goal is to get feedback from the players while the map is in early development, so that they can iron out the kinks before it's finally released.

"We would like to go back to the days when we were developing the game and pursuing open development once more, testing this game with our players and completing it together with you guys," said C.H. Kim, CEO and executive producer of PUBG Corp, in the video.

Creators Iterate The Importance Of Fans' Feedback

Kim and Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, creative director of PUBG Corp, looked back on the early days of PUBG, wherein player feedback brought the game to where it is now. According to them, it was the players who gave them the idea of launching the characters from a plane rather than a warehouse. The players' demands also encouraged them to add first person sooner than planned.

Greene added that the passion for giving honest, sometimes brutal, feedback helped them build a solid game.

"It's been a pretty crazy journey for us so far and as I keep saying, this is a marathon for us, not a sprint," Greene said.

New Map And Other Updates Coming Soon

The sneak peek of the map in the video is still incomplete with missing textures from the concept art the PUBG Corp. released in the roadmap. Nonetheless, it already has that Southeast Asian feel that Greene said they were going for at the annual Game Developers Conference on March 23.

The new map will begin testing in early April with the exact date yet to be announced. Aside from the 4x4 map, another map with an 8x8 size is coming to the Experimental Test Servers later this year as well. The PUBG 2018 roadmap also has emotes and other improvements lined up for the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds fans.

Currently, PUBG is testing the new Event Mode featuring unique battle rules and time-limited content in each event.