Steam Early Access is a great way for fans to get their hands on upcoming titles and give some guidance to the developers who are catering to their wants. While the process does have its flaws there are some success stories, and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is one of them.
Launching on Early Access three days ago, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds holds the number one spot for sales since its release earning more than $11 million in revenue with more than 67,000 active players according to developer Bluehole Inc. The developer also boasts holding the number one spot on Twitch charts with around 150, 000 viewers at any given time, while also being featured on more than 3,600 streams since Mar. 23, 2017.
For those who haven’t heard of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, the title is a “battle royal” type experience running on Unreal Engine 4 where up to 100 players are dropped on an 8×8 km island with nothing. They must then try to find weapons, supplies and vehicles as they fight to be the last person standing. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds allows for solo play, but also co-operative play where players can join groups of two to four in a separate mode.
Developer Bluehole Inc. is pretty well established in the gaming industry. Founded in 2007, Bluehole Inc. has a focus on creating massive online experiences. Since then, they’ve created a line-up of games including the rhythm action title High5, the 1v1 real time multiplayer bowling experience Bowling King: World Leauge, the hack and slash MMORPG Devilain and the MMORPG Tera.