Today, Krafton unveiled the 2025 roadmap for PUBG: Battlegrounds. A year after the studio announced the game's transition from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, it finally provided an update on the task.
This is meant to establish a new long-term foundation for the game while retaining the same feeling that fans have appreciated. The UE5 upgrade, though, still needs time in the oven, as it was described as being in the pre-production phase. On the tech front, Krafton is also busy making the long-requested current-generation version of PUBG. This is set to arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X in late 2025, delivering visual improvements as well as a more optimized experience for frame rate and map loading speed.
The developers are also preparing to launch the PUBG UGC (User Generated Content) project. This will allow players to create and share their own custom experiences, starting with a new TDM-style mode in Custom Matches. This initiative is designed to give players greater creative freedom and expand the ways in which they interact with the game.
A more unified experience across Normal Matches, Ranked, and Esports is coming, too, thanks to the integration of key elements from Normal Matches into Ranked, reducing the gameplay gap between the two modes. To further enhance progression, a tier overhaul is planned for June, making rank progression feel more rewarding and meaningful.
Balance patches will be released every two months in 2025 to address key adjustments to the weapon meta, ensuring a dynamic and evolving combat experience. In addition, a major annual rebalancing will be introduced to shake up weapon usage and encourage different play styles. Alongside these changes, under-utilized weapons such as SRs, LMGs, and SMGs will receive improvements to increase their viability. New weapons and attachments are also in development to further expand the arsenal available to players.
Artificial intelligence will also be majorly overhauled, making PUBG bots behave more realistically and strategically. AI enemies will react to the shrinking blue zone, take cover more effectively, and even use smoke grenades to obscure visibility in combat situations. These improvements are designed to make AI encounters feel more natural while ensuring a fair and engaging experience for all players.
While a new map won't be coming to the game this year, the developers are preparing a big world update due in late 2025. This update will transform existing maps to create new gameplay experiences while retaining the essence of what players love. Moreover, the Destructible Terrain feature is being introduced in the Taego, Miramar, and Erangel maps.
Last but not least, Krafton continues the fight against cheaters. New detection technologies are being developed to counter increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics. The team is also exploring ways to leverage Windows OS protections to provide an additional layer of security against exploitative software.
Machine learning models are being actively used to detect and counter unauthorized software use in real time, improving PUBG's ability to identify and ban cheaters more effectively. Additional security measures are also in development to better protect player accounts and reduce the risk of account hijacking and unfair play.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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