‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ Raises Exclusivity Questions With Microsoft Publishing Deal

08/21/2017 06:07 pm EDT

We've known since E3 that multiplayer battle royale phenomenon PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was coming to Xbox One before other consoles, but most assumed a PS4 release would eventually be in the cards. Well, don't count your ports before they hatch – yesterday it was announced Microsoft is publishing PUBG on Xbox One.

Here's what original PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds publisher Bluehole had to say about the arrangement:

"Back in June at E3, we announced that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will launch exclusively on Xbox One via the Xbox Game Preview program in late 2017. Since then we have come to realize that we have a shared vision for the direction of the game with the Xbox team. This led to our decision on extending our partnership with Microsoft and I'm happy to announce it now includes Microsoft as the publisher for our PUBG on Xbox One.

By partnering with Microsoft, our team believes that we will be able to accelerate console development, while maintaining quality across all platforms, as well as giving us access to vast sales, marketing and publishing resources that will help us welcome new fans to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. We are excited to continue and further strengthen our partnership with Microsoft and are super excited to meet the Xbox community."

Sounds like Microsoft and Bluehole are getting pretty chummy – could their "partnership" mean PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will remain an Xbox One exclusive? IGN producer Destin Legarie attempted to get clarification on the issue from a Bluehole rep, but their back-and-forth only raised more questions:

Considering the lack of Xbox One exclusives on the horizon, it would certainly make sense for Microsoft to try to lock down the ultra-popular Battlegrounds, but it sounds like the game's makers are still trying to keep their possibilities open. That said, I wouldn't expect a PUGB PS4 port any time too soon.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is available on Steam Early Access. The full version of the game launches on PC and Xbox One this holiday season. You can check out WWG's latest coverage of the game, right here.

[via Game Informer]

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