When Krafton announced PUBG: New State back in February, it came as a surprise for many PUBG Mobile players.
PUBG: New State has been developed in-house by Krafton. PUBG Mobile, on the other hand, was made by China-based Tencent’s Lightspeed and Quantum Studios. The exact financial deal that allowed Tencent to make PUBG Mobile has never been revealed, although Krafton earns a substantial amount from the battle royale game.
With the immense success of PUBG Mobile, it isn’t surprising to see Krafton make its own standalone battle royale title. The South Korean company has called New State the “next-gen battle royale.” It has upgraded graphics and several new features, including a completely new map called Troi.
While Krafton has never referred to the game as a direct sequel, New State feels exactly like that to PUBG Mobile.
Related: PUBG: New State allows players to recruit enemies to their team
During a recent media showcase, the game’s executive producer Hinkyu Park was asked about possible market cannibalization by the release of New State on PUBG Mobile. He, however, refuted this and said that “both titles can co-exist in the same market without one cannibalizing the other,” because some differences set New State apart from PUBG Mobile.
“If one of PUBG Mobile’s strengths is its casual gameplay, then PUBG: New State’s strength would be its more realistic and serious content,” Hinkyu Park said.
Hinkyu Park felt that these were “strong and unique characteristics” which justified there would be no cannibalization between the two battle royale titles. It’s unclear what he meant exactly by “casual gameplay,” since PUBG Mobile has a well-developed and global esports scene. While the outfits and skins in the game are casual and more unrealistic, it doesn’t seem like such a huge difference to keep both games’ player bases separate.
Additionally, Krafton has confirmed that Erangel will be available to play in New State‘s global release. The map will be slightly different and feature war-torn cities. The company also said that it plans to add other maps from the original PUBG: Battlegrounds to New State.
Hinkyu Park added that Krafton aims to create new markets through New State as well. While the huge mobile battle royale market does make it possible for both tiles to co-exist, this will likely not be possible without New State luring a chunk of PUBG Mobile’s players.
Tencent seemed to have acknowledged this and the recent updates to PUBG Mobile indicate the same. In PUBG Mobile’s patch 1.5, which was released in July, a lot of features similar to New State were added. The game was made more futuristic with several locations getting revamped.
Related: PUBG Mobile is going futuristic with PUBG: New State’s release approaching
Later in September, Tencent unveiled its new project titled To The Future. In it, the company revealed its roadmap to build upon patch 1.5’s updates and make Erangel more futuristic.
PUBG: New State has already achieved 50 million pre-registrations and will launch globally on Nov. 11. It remains to be seen how this will affect PUBG Mobile. New State won’t just be competing with PUBG Mobile, though, as upcoming games like Apex Legends Mobile and a rumored Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will certainly be on Krafton’s radar as well.
