PUBG: Blindspot is closing down later today (March 30) after just 53 days, meaning it won’t leave early access.
The 5v5 top-down tactical shooter built on “clever positioning, tight teamwork, and shared vision,” only launched on February 5, but despite the PUBG branding and being free-to-play, developer Arc Team said it had “come to the conclusion that we are no longer able to sustainably provide the level of experience we set out to deliver through Early Access.”
“We place player experience at the center of every decision we make, and it is based on that principle that we have made this decision,” ARC Team’s Sequoia Yang said. “As a result, PUBG: Blindspot Early Access service will come to an end on Monday, March 30.” As the update was posted to Steam on March 27, players were given just three days’ notice.
“We understand this may not be the outcome many of you were hoping for,” Yang continued. “PUBG: Blindspot was a bold attempt to explore new possibilities within the top-down tactical shooter space. Throughout this journey, the feedback and support from our players have meant a great deal to the team, and will continue to inform our future development efforts.
“To everyone who believed in the game and supported its direction, we are truly grateful.”
The servers go dark at 2am PDT (5am EDT, 10am UK time, 8pm AEDT). The team said it will “take some time to regroup, and we hope to return with new experiences in the future.”
“This game is dead because nobody knows about it,” wrote one player in a Blindspot Steam review. “When you carry a big name like PUBG, I think you have a marketing budget. Use it, go Twitch. [Throw] money into a tournament for pros. Hire a few famous streamers. The game itself is awesome. Tactical, something different enough to get your attention.”
Another wrote: “Basically a top-down version of Rainbow Six: Siege that ends up playing very differently due to the top-down version. It’s honestly very well-designed and the gunplay feels good. The game feels more accessible thanks to the top-down view and the fact you share vision with your teammates. It makes it easy coordinate without relying on voice chat and it makes easy to learn from your teammates actions as you can see exactly what they’re doing all the time.
“Too bad it ended up being shut down so quickly. Even a bigger shame it does the same thing as all other multiplayer games these days and not allow for connecting via IP, so it was destined to become unplayable forever once the publisher pulled the plug.”
Clearly, PUBG: Blindspot failed to find an audience, with a peak concurrent player count on Steam of just 3,251 players. The mainline battle royale game, PUBG: Battlegrounds, remains one of the most-played games on Valve’s platform despite being over eight years old. On Sunday, it hit a peak of 861,783.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
