The PUBG launch date most players remember is December 20, 2017, when the game left Early Access and went 1.0 on PC. But that is only one date in a much longer story that starts in March 2017 and runs all the way to the free-to-play switch in 2022 and the map rotation we play today.
This guide walks through every major PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS release on PC: the Early Access debut, the 1.0 launch, each new map, and the business model shift that reshaped the game.
The Short Answer
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS released into Steam Early Access on March 23, 2017. It left Early Access and launched as a full 1.0 title on December 20, 2017. The game was developed by Bluehole (now Krafton) and directed by Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene, who had previously designed battle royale mods for ARMA 2 and H1Z1.
If you only need one date, the 1.0 launch on December 20, 2017 is the one most official timelines use.
PUBG PC Launch Timeline
Here is the full release history on PC, from the first playable build to the present day.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 23, 2017 | Steam Early Access launch |
| December 20, 2017 | Full 1.0 release on PC |
| May 2018 | Miramar added to live servers |
| June 22, 2018 | Sanhok released |
| December 2018 | Vikendi released |
| September 2020 | Karakin added |
| July 2021 | Taego released |
| November 2021 | Deston added via test server |
| January 12, 2022 | Game switches to free-to-play |
| November 2023 | Rondo released |
The three dates that matter most for search context are the Early Access launch, the 1.0 PC release, and the free-to-play transition.
Early Access: March 23, 2017
PUBG hit Steam Early Access on March 23, 2017, priced at around $29.99 USD. It was built in Unreal Engine 4 and launched with a single map, Erangel, a fictional post-Soviet island.
It was a hit immediately. The game broke Steam’s concurrent user record multiple times during Early Access and crossed one million concurrent players before 1.0 even shipped. By the end of 2017, PUBG had sold roughly 30 million copies worldwide.
Brendan Greene’s design pulled from his earlier mod work, where 100 players drop onto a shrinking map and fight until one squad is left. That loop, the plane, the Blue zone, the loot run, the final circle, was finalised during Early Access.
1.0 Launch: December 20, 2017
The official PUBG launch date on PC is December 20, 2017. This is the version that added:
- Miramar, the desert map, as the second map in rotation
- Vaulting and climbing
- Full first-person servers alongside third-person
- Updated weapon balance and new ballistics
- Ranked-style stat tracking foundations
The 1.0 release moved PUBG out of beta territory and into “finished product” status, even though the game has kept shipping updates ever since. The Game Awards named it Best Multiplayer Game of 2017.
If you are new to the game at this point, our pubg beginner guide covers the core systems that have stayed consistent since 1.0.
Map Releases After 1.0
Krafton has kept adding maps across the years. Each one plays differently in terms of size, pace and loot density.
- Miramar (2018): 8×8 km desert, long sightlines, vehicle-heavy
- Sanhok (2018): 4×4 km jungle, fastest pace, hot-drop paradise
- Vikendi (2018): 6×6 km snow map, footprints in snow, mid-pace
- Karakin (2020): 2×2 km, breachable walls, no vehicles, Red zone sticky bombs
- Paramo (2020): dynamic 3×3 km rotating map
- Taego (2021): 8×8 km Korean countryside with self-revive and Blue Chip Detector
- Deston (2022): 8×8 km flooded city with ascenders and parachutes mid-game
- Rondo (2023): 8×8 km Southeast Asian map with urban, rural and mountain biomes
If you want to understand how these fit into the current rotation, our pubg map guide breaks down which maps are live and when they rotate. For deep dives, start with the pubg erangel map since it is still the ranked and competitive default.
The Free-to-Play Switch: January 12, 2022
The second-biggest date in PUBG PC history is January 12, 2022, when the game dropped its price tag and went free-to-play. Players who had already bought the game were migrated to a “Special Edition” account that unlocks cosmetic perks.
The free version includes:
- Full access to all maps
- All weapons and vehicles
- Ranked mode (after completing survival progression)
- Normal matches, custom matches and training mode
Paid Battle Pass seasons and the cosmetics store fund the game now. This is the model PUBG has used since the switch, and it is why the current PC game still receives regular content updates nearly a decade after the first Early Access build.
Who Made PUBG?
The game was built by Bluehole, a South Korean studio that later renamed its PUBG-focused subsidiary to PUBG Corporation and now sits under the Krafton publishing umbrella. If you want the full ownership history, including the Tencent partnership on the mobile version, see our breakdown of the current pubg owner.
Brendan Greene left PUBG Corp in 2019 to work on an unrelated project. Development of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS has been led from Krafton’s South Korean studios ever since.
What Launched vs. What You Play Today
The PUBG you boot up today is a very different game from the March 2017 build, even though the core loop is identical. A short comparison:
| System | 2017 Launch | Current PC Build |
|---|---|---|
| Maps | Erangel only (EA), then Miramar | Nine total, rotating pools |
| Price | $29.99 paid | Free-to-play |
| Movement | Basic vault added in 1.0 | Vault, climb, ledge grab, swim, ascenders on Deston |
| Loot | Flat ground loot | Care packages, Secret Rooms, Blue Chip systems on Taego and Deston |
| Anti-cheat | Early BattlEye | BattlEye plus Krafton’s own detection stack |
The feel of the game is the same. The depth around it is not.
The Competitive Scene
PUBG’s esports side started in 2017 with community tournaments and grew into the PUBG Global Championship (PGC) and regional pro leagues like PCS and PGS. Competitive matches are played in squads on the current ranked map pool, usually built around Erangel and Miramar for premier events.
If you are moving from casual drops into ranked squads, dial in your inputs first. Our write-ups on the best pubg settings and a clean pubg crosshair setup are the fastest wins before you touch sensitivity or hardware. For gear, the best gaming mouse for pubg breakdown covers what the pro scene actually uses.
Why the Launch Date Still Matters
The 2017 PUBG launch date is the reason the entire battle royale genre looks the way it does now. The 100-player drop, the shrinking circle, the care package, the chicken dinner, all of it was popularised by PUBG’s Early Access run and locked in by the December 20, 2017 release.
Every battle royale that came after, whether on PC or elsewhere, is building on choices Bluehole made in those nine months. That is the real weight behind the date.
The Bottom Line
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS launched into Steam Early Access on March 23, 2017 and released as a full 1.0 PC game on December 20, 2017. It became free-to-play on January 12, 2022, which is the version almost everyone plays today.
If you have not touched the game in years and the “launch date” question brought you here, the quickest way back in is to install, run the training mode, and queue a solo match on Erangel. The muscle memory from 2017 still works. The map rotation, the attachments and the movement options are what you will need to catch up on.