PUBG season 4 launches, headlined by Erangel map update

PUBG Corporation has launched the fourth season of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on PC, ahead of its “late summer” release on consoles.

Going forward, PUBG Corporation says game updates will revolve around new seasons featuring fresh content, skins, gameplay updates and Survivor Passes.

Accordingly, it will be naming game updates differently, hence the first update of season 4 is referred to as PC update 4.1 in the patch notes.

The headline feature of season 4 is an update to the game’s original Erangel map.

“An updated take on our classic map, it features new complexes, improved graphics, and surprises for fans who want to know more about the island,” says TS Jang, PUBG executive producer and head of development division.

Meanwhile, Survivor Pass 4: Aftermath “reveals the past and present of Erangel through skins and items from the island’s broad history”.

Running for 12 weeks until October 15 PDT, it features over 100 rewards to unlock by completing missions and levelling up the pass.

Aftermath also introduces a co-op mission system enabling players to team up to complete goals and earn rewards, and an updated mission change system which lets players use Battle Points virtual currency to swap out more missions than previously possible.

It was announced in June that former Sledgehammer and Visceral Games general manager Glen Schofield had been appointed as CEO of a newly established PUBG Corp development studio called Striking Distance, which is tasked with expanding the series beyond battle royale.

The studio is staffing up to craft “an original narrative experience in the PUBG universe”. Fellow Dead Space veteran Steve Papoutsis recently came on board as chief development officer.