I've been sleeping on the latest Steam success story, but enough people have brought it up and shared amusing clips that I've finally started to pay attention. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a battle royale game whose roots go back to the Arma modding scene, and people are eating it up.
In its first 16 days on Steam Early Access, the chart-topping multiplayer shooter secured over a million sales, peaking at 89,000 simultaneous players, according to developer Bluehole, Inc. From the way people describe it, that success is well-earned, and I don't see sales slowing down anytime soon.
"We couldn't have reached this milestone without the dedication of our players and we are truly humbled by their passionate response," said Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene.
Battlegrounds dumps up to 100 players on an island and let's them sort it out until only a single winner (or team) remains. It's a game of reflexes, wits, and improvisation that ratchets up the tension by corralling combatants into tighter and tighter quarters with a shrinking playing field. I can absolutely see how a concept like this would catch on with the Steam audience and especially streamers.
As far as it being an Early Access game goes, the main criticism at this point seems to be performance and optimization (or a current lack thereof). The developer is on track to push out weekly updates for bugs and stability improvements, and monthly updates for new content and balancing.
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