Why Krafton is lacking a straightforward win by not bringing PUBG Battlegrounds to Swap 2

PUBG Battlegrounds is without doubt one of the most profitable battle-royale video games in historical past, however developer Krafton/PUBG Studios could also be lacking a trick by not bringing the sport to the Nintendo Swap 2.

Launched in 2017 as an early entry PC recreation for Home windows, PUBG Battlegrounds quick grew to become a smash hit, letting gamers fly right down to an island to compete towards 99 others to take the crown. Nonetheless, regardless of the sport reaching a peak of three,236,027 gamers in January 2018, Epic Video games’ Fortnite was overtaking PUBG on account of its greater funding, partnerships, and greater esports placements.

In 2025, the sport continues to be energetic, nevertheless it’s nowhere close to what it was once by way of reputation. With this in thoughts, we’re going to elucidate why PUBG Battlegrounds has been absent from Nintendo’s Swap consoles, and what the advantages may very well be for Krafton/PUBG Studios in the event that they determine to launch the sport on Nintendo’s platform.

Regardless of PUBG Battlegrounds not being the juggernaut it as soon as was, the sport nonetheless has an enormous following worldwide, particularly in nations like Korea and the UK. Whereas Epic Video games’ Fortnite continues to be banned in a number of nations on Apple’s App Retailer, PUBG Cell, a port of Battlegrounds, is extensively obtainable on iPhone and iPad.

However the recreation’s drop in reputation isn’t simply on account of it not being obtainable on the Swap — a number of players complain about the identical points PUBG has had for a number of years. This contains its poor anti-cheat measures, with many bots flooding matches with pinpoint accuracy in eliminating actual gamers, in addition to the builders’ over-reliance on Korean Pop-themed occasions to fulfill a selected market, however alienating others. This lack of focus has contributed to PUBG dropping market share and respect within the battle-royale style, in addition to the esports scene.

Releasing PUBG Battlegrounds on Nintendo Swap 2 received’t be a fix-all resolution. As well as, Krafton/PUBG Studios ought to take suggestions from its customers to coronary heart and work on a 2.0 replace, in an identical vein to how Activision launched a brand new model of Name of Responsibility: Warzone in 2022.

The looks of PUBG Battlegrounds has barely modified since its launch in 2017, whereas others like Fortnite have seen new gameplay options and large graphical enhancements since its preliminary launch. This contains the transfer to the newer Unreal Engine 5 in 2022, which introduced extra detailed foliage, ray-tracing options, and extra. This new model was additionally launched on Swap 2’s launch day, bringing these enhancements to new and returning gamers immediately.

A PUBG Battlegrounds 2.0 model for Nintendo’s console with higher graphics, higher anti-cheat techniques, and a greater give attention to content material might strongly attraction to gamers. It might additional enhance the Swap 2 as a super console for cell esports. This may have a huge impact on each PUBG and esports, as it will carry the sport to trendy requirements, whereas conserving the playerbase intact, but in addition attracting new players, very similar to how Warzone 2.0 was marketed at its launch. There’s potential to develop its month-to-month participant base from 300,000 to double if Krafton/PUBG Studios appears to be like into these options.

Nonetheless, after seven years of the sport not being made obtainable on Nintendo’s platform, there are clearly the reason why, even when Krafton/PUBG Studios hasn’t explicitly revealed them. One fixed theme discovered on locations like Reddit attributes the sport’s absence on Nintendo’s consoles on account of PUBG’s dangerous efficiency on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Collection S/X to begin with. Stories of lag, beginning with the title’s menu display, are purpose sufficient for some to elucidate why PUBG isn’t on Swap.

One other issue may very well be on account of Xbox’s current layoffs. Krafton/PUBG Studios and Microsoft agreed on a deal in 2017 to carry PUBG to Xbox as an early entry title, together with serving to to port the sport to the platform. Regardless of the sport coming to PlayStation a yr later, the phrases of the deal allegedly stay, which nonetheless haven’t been revealed. With hundreds dropping their jobs and video games both dropping funding, like John Romero’s firm, Romero Video games, or the shutting down of The Initiative and the cancellation of the Excellent Darkish reboot, the phrases of the deal between Krafton/PUBG Studios and Microsoft may very well be altering, too.

Porting and sustaining a brand new model of PUBG might introduce its personal set of issues for Krafton/PUBG Studios. They’re merely not an enormous developer in comparison with Epic Video games, which might keep Fortnite and its multitude of modes with a big headcount worldwide. Yet one more model of PUBG, not least a complete new model, as we described within the earlier part, might outcome within the recreation on all platforms struggling greater than gamers have seen previously few years.

Regardless of Krafton/PUBG Studios displaying no indicators of bringing PUBG to the Nintendo Swap 2, it nonetheless seems like a straightforward win if it did. With Epic Video games releasing a brand new model of Fortnite for the console, full with improved graphics and extra, it appears unlikely that PUBG received’t be capable of run on the Swap 2.

Granted, we’ve talked about how Krafton/PUBG Studios is a much smaller studio than Epic Video games, and one other port might restrict its assets. However there’s a clear alternative right here, and with Swap 2 already turning into the best-selling console of all time inside two weeks of its launch on June 5, maybe it’s a threat price taking for the developer.