PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has achieved a lot in its short lifespan. Nominated for Game of the Year multiple times, this still technically unfinished game is now becoming increasingly popular amongst eSports bettors. Want to learn how to bet on PUBG? Read on for a beginner’s guide to PUBG betting.
What is PUBG?
PUBG is a player vs. player (PvP) online battle royale game where up to 100 players fight until one team or player is left standing. There are various game modes including solo, duo and squad games (where teams of four compete against each other). You can play any of these modes in first or third person, with former being the most popular in eSports.
Each game of PUBG starts with players parachuting from a plane into a map roughly five by five miles in size. Players can choose when they want to exit the plane and this will impact the area of the map they land on to start the game - something that can play a pivotal role in PUBG betting.
PUBG was the most played game on the Steam platform by August 2017 and by the end of the year it had sold over 24 million copies.
A different flight path each time gives more variance to how each game is played. Players land without any gear except their customised outfits and they must loot buildings to find items that will help them during the game (weapons, equipment, attachments etc.). Vehicles including cars and motorbikes are also positioned around the map for players to use.
Items are distributed throughout the game and certain areas will have better items than others (unsurprisingly, these areas are usually heavily contested). Players who have been killed can be looted to acquire their gear as well.
Another aspect of the game that those interested in PUBG betting need to be aware of is the “red zones”. These appear at random for a short period of time, with bombs (that will kill with one direct hit) dropped systematically.
In PUBG the playable area of the map (which is often referred to as the “circle”) changes each game and will shrink every few minutes - this is designed to force fights between players and eliminate slow periods of action. Any player caught outside the playable zone will take damage that increases in velocity the longer the game is played.
If you lose all of your health in a solo game you are eliminated, but in duo and squad games you are only knocked down. Upon being knocked down, your teammate/s have a certain amount of time to revive you before you are eliminated. This adds another team-work dimension to the game and is important when analysing team strength in PUBG betting.
During a game of PUBG, a plane will fly over and drop a loot package every few minutes (these contain various items, including weapons unobtainable during normal gameplay). Anyone experienced in live eSports betting will know how important it is to react to in-game situations like these loot drops.
PUBG: A brief history
PUBG was developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Korean publisher Bluehole. The game is based upon mods used in previous games that were developed by Brendan ‘PlayerUnknown’ Greene. Greene originally created a mod for the game ARMA 2 called DayZ: Battle Royale which was eventually released as a standalone title.
Due to the popularity of his work, Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Game Company) approached Green to work as a consultant on H1Z1. The game proved to be immensely popular and upon leaving his role at Sony Online, Greene was approached by Bluehole to create a new battle royale game.
PUBG game was officially released on Windows via Steam early access in March 2017, with a full release coming later in December 2017 - it was released on Xbox One at the same time. PUBG was the most played game on the Steam platform by August 2017 and by the end of the year it had sold over 24 million copies.
PUBG betting: Who are the best teams or players?
As there have only been two tournaments of note in PUBG so far, the title for best team is currently up for grabs. The winner of IEM Oakland was the French side aAa, who are now representing VitalityGG.
The other top teams at the IEM event included Tempo Storm, Ghost Gaming, FaZe and Digital Chaos. Digital Chaos were somewhat unlucky to come fifth as they had won two out of the eight rounds, but had poor finishes in the remaining games. Method, Cloud9, Noble and Liquid also impressed at IEM Oakland and could be ones to watch in the future.
PUBG is a player vs. player (PvP) online battle royale game where up to 100 players fight until one team or player is left standing.
Gamescom, held in August 2017, featured a prize pool of $350,000 and had 80 players competing over the course of four days. The players included streamers, content creators and qualifiers. Cloud9 performed to a high standard in the duo competition, winning the first person competition and coming second in the third person one. In squads, Luminosity came out the victors (which they followed up with a 13th placed finish at the aforementioned IEM Oakland event).
With all of the biggest eSports teams picking up squads, bettors will need at least two or three more events to know who the best teams are. Of course, PUBG betting isn’t just about knowing who the best teams are, in-depth knowledge of the game set-up and factors that can influence the outcome of a game are just as important.
How to bet on PUBG
Outrights are the main market on offer right now in PUBG betting (the main reason for this is the format of matches). The recent IEM Oakland consisted of eight matches with seven different winners, which shows how random and luck dependant success can be in this game. Digital Chaos managed to pull off two wins from eight but finished outside the top 10 in the remainder of the games.
It is hard to add other markets such as handicap or totals at present as the game is just far too unpredictable - sometimes a team can win with almost no kills at all and sometimes they can win with 10+ kills. Until a format, system and way of playing are developed, bettors will most likely focus on outright markets for major events.
The eSports lifespan of PUBG is still in its infancy. StarLadder has announced an event that will take place in Kiev in March and with a prize pool of $100,000 and 16 teams from eight different regions competing, this event should give us a clearer indication of the strength of different teams.
Bettors should be aware of how different playing styles, strategies and landing sports can influence the result in PUBG betting. If teams land far away from the circle and have to transport into open areas to try and seize map control, they could be caught out in the open and drop out of the game fairly quickly.
