PUBG: Black Budget will no longer be released

A few years ago, Krafton plunged into experiments to complement its battle royale with games in other genres, but set in the same universe. As it turned out, all these endeavors proved unsuccessful — either commercially or conceptually. A sad fate befell the extraction shooter, which managed to go through a series of tests with gamers, received a series of updates, and was already on the home stretch. Nevertheless, the developers saw no prospects in their new action game.

Initially, the game was made according to the canons of the genre: operatives were to infiltrate an island enclosed by a force field, where illegal experiments on humans had once been conducted, gather evidence and trophies, and then escape from the map, fighting off both competitors and AI-controlled enemies. The search for artifacts was to be complicated by a time loop mechanic that gradually destroyed the island. The plans also included building shelters, leveling up character skills, and crafting items at workbenches. Krafton employees listed the map size, the half-hour timer for each raid, and the battle royale element in the form of a shrinking battlefield among the project's strengths. Alas, these plans are not destined to come true.

The developers themselves see the main reason for the project's closure in the fact that the course they chose would not allow them to create a game capable of engaging the audience for long. Obviously, the results of the conducted tests and the releases of competing shooters also played a significant role in making this decision — while Krafton was announcing and testing, ARK Raiders, Marathon, Active Matter, and other big-budget action games had already been released. And in such conditions, even a major publisher risks twice as much.