3 Key PubG Strategies That Made it Go Viral

PubG or Player Unknown’s Battleground became a global internet sensation within a very short period. But what was this famous PubG strategy that helped this online game become so popular quickly? One cannot say that PubG was a one-of-a-kind game simply because there are so many other games based on the theme of battle royale. 

Brendan Greene, the designer of PubG, acknowledges the game’s similarities to “The Hunger Games” and “DayZ.” But there is something special about the PubG marketing strategy that helped the game gain a clear edge over its competitors.  

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What worked for the PubG strategy was how the game was presented to the audiences more than what the game contained. It overtook other games like “Dota 2” and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” within a matter of days, and that says something compelling about the PubG mobile competitive strategy. So, let’s dive right in and find out what makes the PubG strategy work. 

What is PubG?

PubG or PubG: Battlegrounds is a multiplayer online game developed and published by PubG Studios. The creator, Brendan Greene, based this new creation on previous game modes. A single game can include up to 100 players, and the goal is to stay alive by killing others on an island. The last player standing wins in each round.

The game was first released via Steam’s early access beta program by Microsoft Windows in March 2017. The PubG mobile strategy kicked in when the free version of the mobile game was launched in 2018. The PubG mobile tactics were so successful that the mobile version surpassed the original format with a record 1 billion downloads worldwide as of March 2021. 

The PubG strategy remained true to its fundamental concept of appealing to the players rather than just focusing on the technicalities of gameplay.

The Rise of PubG and The Marketing Strategies Behind its Success

The PubG marketing strategy has become the center of discussion for many academic and non-academic discourses because of its huge success. In trying to decode the PubG strategy, there are a few important takeaways for anyone looking to build a robust and uncomplicated marketing strategy.

1. Know your audience inside out

The battle royale gaming style has been in vogue for the last couple of years. What is this battle royale style anyway? The game is designed with a shrinking map that one player shares with 99 others. And the final goal is to be the last player alive. “Survival of the fittest” could also be how one describes this style. 

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When Brendan Greene announced that he was launching a legitimate e-sport game, he instantly grabbed the attention of the potential players of PubG. The launch gave the gaming community hope since this was coming from an e-sport celebrity himself. After all, until very recently, most battle royale games were developed by home-based modders. 

And Greene knew that people would be waiting with bated breath to be the first ones to try it out. This gave the PubG strategy a competitive edge at the outset. 

2. Get the timing right.

The game’s concept was critical to the success of the overall marketing strategy and the PubG mobile competitive strategy. But the underlying success of that concept rode on the timing as well. If one looks at the trend between 2015 and 2017, the popularity of e-sport games was dwindling drastically. 

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PubG just nailed it with the timing when it launched the game to bring back hope amongst the faithful gamers. The marketing team at PubG even requested high-profile games like Shroud and Summit1g to play the game during its early release, which added to the popularity and viewership. This way, PubG not only reached out to the target audience but also capitalized on perfect timing to turn around waning interest in the e-sport genre. 

3. Blue Ocean Strategy Adoption

A Blue Ocean strategy is one where companies use strategic thinking to create new markets and industries for their products and services. The relevance of this is quite evident in PubG mobile tactics. PubG was able to leverage reduced-inventory logistics as an outcome of e-business development to target possible PubG consumers. Adding to this, they used social media platforms like Twitter to send invitations to a massive volume of players across the globe.

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In Summary

As a business that is into product development, it is sometimes a good idea to get onto the trend bandwagon to make the most of the current market situation. But at other times, as in the case of PubG strategy, it can be hugely beneficial to wait for the right time to tap the right audiences. 

Brendan Greene perfectly executed this when he envisaged a market with waning interest in e-sports to turn it into the next big thing. To the world, it came to be known as PubG.

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