PUBG publisher Krafton announced today it is ending development of PUBG: Black Budget, the extraction shooter spin-off announced nearly a year ago.
Krafton broke the news on Black Budget’s Steam page, saying the decision was made following an internal review. “After reviewing the project’s development status and future direction, we concluded that its current direction would not allow us to deliver an experience players could enjoy over the long term,” Krafton wrote.
“We have therefore made the difficult decision to end development of PUBG: Black Budget. We sincerely thank everyone who took the time to participate in our closed alpha tests and share their feedback.”
PUBG: Black Budget, first revealed in November 2025, was positioned as the next major PUBG game, blending extraction shooter elements with those typical of battle royale games. The PvEvP first-person shooter took place on an island trapped in a time loop, and featured strange weather phenomena and other anomalies that were meant to make each match feel different.
Black Budget is now the second PUBG spin-off to have been publicly cancelled. PUBG: Blindspot, the 5v5 top-down tactical shooter that borrowed from Rainbow Six Siege, was cancelled in March after just two months in early access.
Since its reveal, Black Budget hosted several closed tests, with the most recent – and biggest – having taken place in June. The game has seemingly been in development for years; first spotted in a 2023 Krafton financial report, before the publisher announced later that year it was aiming to release the game in the second half of 2024.
It’s not clear what the team’s next project is going to be, and today’s post offers few clues there. “PUBG Studios will carry what we learned from development and testing into future projects, continuing to listen to players as we explore new gameplay experiences,” Krafton wrote.
The next PUBG spin-off, PUBG: Ded.Net, was announced at gamescom in August. Developed by Krafton’s Madison, Wisconsin studio, Ded.Net is a multiplayer shooter with an 80s aesthetic and roguelite elements, and it’s unlike anything else seen in the series so far.
