PUBG is Still Hot, but its Momentum is Slowing Down

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is losing players, but it's not yet clear if the drop is a result of players becoming frustrated with the game's cheaters, or if it's just a plain old case of hype levelling out.

Yuji Nakamura, Bloomberg's tech reporter in Tokyo, believes the former is to blame for the fall-off. "Bluehole still not taking cheaters seriously enough imo," he Tweeted earlier this week.

According to a weekly SteamDB graph Nakamura posted, PUBG's daily active player base seemingly peaked in late January / early February, and has dropped by at least 500,000 players since. Players (and former players) chimed in on Nakamura's thread to discuss the reasons for the drop. Indeed, cheating was brought up as an issue by some players, but others suggested Bluehole has been thorough about rooting out cheaters (and the subsequent bans might account for the player drop-off). Other players blamed the introduction of the desert map, Miramar, which has ignited enough criticism to prompt PUBG Corporation into adjusting the sparse environment.

The reason for the drop-off might just be everything put together: Frustration with cheaters, the banning of said cheaters (as PUBG Corporation is very aware there's a problem, and is dealing with it—harshly), the natural dissolution of hype, and competition from Fortnite: Battle Royale.