Episode 84: Game Design Breakdown - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

It seems like every year, one game comes along and dominates the conversation, whether for its excellent execution, superb gameplay, or its originality of ideas. For awhile we thought that game for 2017 would be the triumphant return of the Zelda franchise in Breath of the Wild, but a well-known modder, going by the name Playerunknown, had a different idea. Building off his experience building a very popular Arma 2 mod named DayZ: Battle Royale, Playerunknown aka Brendan Greene, teamed up with Korean developer Bluehole and created a standalone game based on the mod. In March of 2017, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS was released in Early Access on Steam. Since then the game has garnered over 8 million units sold, record breaking player engagement, and big name investment from companies like Microsoft. This week on the show we try out a new format and analyze why PUBG has enjoyed so much success. If you've never played the game, don't worry, we breakdown the entire player experience and highlight all of the subtle, and not so subtle, design decisions that make the game so intriguing. While this type of game or genre might not be related to anything you are building, there are still many great lessons to be learned in taking a look at all of PUBG's systems and how they interact for a player. Hopefully, you'll find a few nuggets you can apply in your own designs. Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: [email protected]