New cave area makes smallest ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ map a lot bigger

By Gabe Gurwin April 19, 2018

In early April, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corporation revealed the game’s smallest map yet. Code-named “Savage,” the map was previously 16 square kilometers, allowing for fast-paced action that played much differently than the game’s previous two enormous maps. But with the addition of a new underground cave area, Savage is getting a whole lot bigger.

Inspired by a trip the game’s development team took to Thailand’s Phraya Nakhon Cave, an update to the Savage map will add an enormous opening in the mountain at the map’s center, which players can skydive into after leaving the plane at the beginning of a match. Three exits are located underground, which lead outdoors, and the underground area features wooden structures and staircases that look like they were ripped out of an Uncharted or Tomb Raider level.

Because it’s underneath the map already in place, the distance it takes you to run from one side of Savage to the other doesn’t look like it’s going to change, but this should allow for more unique ambush opportunities and for bloodbaths as dozens of players drop into the same area. The map is still far from complete, with PUBG Corporation adding in its update post that a Tuk Tuk vehicle will be coming, as well.

Nothing is set in stone yet (aside from the giant whole in the map’s literal stone) with the development team welcoming feedback from players in order to improve the map before it rolls out to everyone.

One other major change is coming to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: Map selection. No longer will you have to delete the files for your least favorite map from the game’s code. At the main menu, you can now select or remove any of the game’s maps from your personal list. Suggest just one, and that’s the map you’ll be playing. Select more, and your map will be chosen at random, just like it was in the past. The feature isn’t live yet, but it will be released “soon after implementing it on the test server.”

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is now available on PC and Xbox One, though the original Erangel map is currently the only one available on the latter platform.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

The untold story of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

playerunknown battlegrounds interview pubg splash

You probably know Brendan Greene better by his moniker, PlayerUnknown. Greene's game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has hundreds of millions of players and a history dating back years. The game was built on the back of five years creating a "battle royale" mod for the military shooter Arma 3.

While the game's success caught most of the gaming world off-guard, Greene himself was unsurprised. By bringing his community into the fold, and keeping them there, understanding the progression of game development, and keeping a clear timeline and singular focus, PlayerUnknown knew exactly what was coming -- which is why Battlegrounds is dominated the PC gaming space for years. Fortnite may have dented its popularity, but it has in no way supplanted it. But what do you really know about PUBG? Here's the untold story of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds -- from the creator himself.
From humble beginnings
For the last five years, PlayerUnknown has been a key player in growing what players call "Battle Royale" games. Like the 2000 Japanese movie of the same name, players are dropped onto a deserted island, and forced to fight until only one player is left standing. In each round of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, 100 real, live people jump out of a plane onto a 64-kilometer abandoned island with one goal: Find weapons and kill each other. Though, Battlegrounds is the most well known by far, a number of games have continuously popped up in the genre, and Greene has had his hands in several of them.

Gaming

How to revive dead companions in Baldur’s Gate 3

Withers offering services to the player in Baldur's Gate 3.

You're given a good bit of leeway during battles in Baldur's Gate 3 before you or a companion actually bites the dust for good. While in battle, if a teammate does take enough damage to drop, they aren't dead then and there. Instead, they will be downed with a chance to roll every turn to get back up. If they roll successfully three times, the battle ends, or you use another character to pick them up, they're good. If they fail that roll three times, however, they will be completely dead. That can be harsh when you've become attached to certain characters and want to further their stories, so you'll be looking for any way you can to bring them back. Thankfully you do have a few options for reviving companions in Baldur's Gate 3, but just like respeccing, they aren't so obvious.
Pay Withers to bring them back

Withers is a friendly undead you can find in a secret room in the Dank Crypt found inside the Overgrown Ruins. After finding and speaking to him in his sarcophagus, he will offer you various services, one of which is bringing back any dead companions. He won't do this out of the kindness of his heart (probably because it isn't beating) and will charge you a heavy fine of 200 gold to do so. Still, that's a small price to pay to bring back a beloved character. Once paid, that character will appear in your camp where they would normally be, so there's no need to go back to their corpse and find them.
Use a scroll of Revivfy or learn it

Gaming

Every video game delay that has happened in 2023 so far

The player skates toward the moon in Skate Story.

Few things feel as inevitable in the video game industry as delays. Ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, game delays have only become more and more common as developers find previously set timelines unrealistic and adjust their release plans accordingly. More than halfway through 2023, we've already seen some notable AAA games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Skull & Bones, and Pragmata delayed pretty heavily. Because video game release date delays are so common, it can be tough to keep track of every game that has had its launch date shifted in some way.
That's why, just as we did in 2021 and 2022, Digital Trends is rounding up every game delay that's announced throughout 2023. Here are the high-profile ones that have happened so far, listed chronologically by their new intended release dates.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (March 16)

As Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is one of the best games for PlayStation VR, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Supermassive Games' PlayStation VR2 successor, is a highly anticipated launch title for the upcoming VR headset. Unfortunately, it will no longer make PlayStation VR2's February 22 launch and will instead be released on March 16. On Twitter, a message from Supermassive Games says this delay will ensure that players "receive the most polished, terrifying experience possible" at release. The game was released on that date to mixed reviews.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (March 24)