PUBG Invitational kicks off with first look at new map

Last month, PlayerUnknown himself let fans know that the upcoming PUBG map is still “many months” away. Good things come to those who wait, however, as Brendan Greene has since teased the new desert map during his keynote at Gamescom.

Greene kicked off the first eSports LAN for the game in the best way possible, revealing that chicken dinners will soon get covered in sand when the new desert map makes its way to the game.

Previously, we’ve been treated to two glimpses of what the map holds, but these were taken from in the thick of it and didn’t reveal a great deal apart from a cacti-ridden landscape. This new image gives us our first look at the sprawling cityscape littered with vantage points for snipers as well as the new colour palette that players will possibly adhere to when choosing what to wear into battle.

ICYMI I revealed an early WIP look at the city on our new @PUBATTLEGROUNDS desert map at my @gamescom keynote! pic.twitter.com/9TE3nxj8T1

— PLAYER @ GAMESCOM (@PLAYERUNKNOWN) August 23, 2017

Despite the amount of buildings in the image, it is currently uncertain as to how many will be accessible for players to use, but I can only imagine the potential this city has for looting if you can get your foot in the door quick enough.

Given the sheer size of the current Erangel map, this is only a portion of what to expect, prompting thoughts of how the distant mountains might come into play. Since they look rather difficult to traverse, this map might offer an entirely different dynamic than Erangel's hilly surroundings by playing off of a flatter environment. If this is the case, I can see many people likely to complain about render distance. Even more than they already do, I mean. Part of me still hopes that those mountains are climbable though because I'm just as likely to be the cause of my own death as snipers are.

There is currently no set release date for the map and with developer Bluehole’s recent decision to drop the monthly update system to maintain quality, we might have a wait on our hands. Gamescom is currently hosting PUBG’s first Invitational ESL competition, pitting big eSports names like TSM, Cloud9, Team Liquid and Luminosity Gaming against one another.

KitGuru Says: It’s good to see PUBG pushing a bit more on its variety, as I’m sure this will increase the games longevity. What do you think of the new map? Is there any type of setting you would like to see come to the game?

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