New PUBG Map Will Include Respawns

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is getting a new map this year that's currently being referred to as "Codename: Tiger." That map is an 8x8 battleground, a type of map that's been absent from the game's new map rotations for awhile now and one which players should be happy to see return. On top of that, it's also incorporating a feature not seen in other maps: Respawns. We don't yet know exactly how the respawn system will work, but we know the new 8x8 map will support it.

PUBG's creative director Dave Curd spoke to IGN about the plans for 2021 which included discussions about the game's new maps which are in the works. The first of those, Codename: Tiger, is the one that'll support respawns. IGN reported that the team was not yet ready to talk about how the respawns will work though, so we'll have to wait to find out how respawns will be handled.

Of course, there are plenty of other battle royale games to look at when trying to imagine how respawns will work. In Call of Duty: Warzone, for example, players have the option to bring their teammates back by purchasing a respawn assuming that person didn't win their 1v1 Gulag fight to earn their way back into the match themselves. Apex Legends takes a different route by supplying players with banners found in their deathboxes which teammates can recover and use to respawn their downed companions.

PUBG tested respawns a while back during one of its limited-time modes, a test which was likely meant to gauge responses to the new map's feature and figure out how it should be implemented. That version of respawns featured in Respawn Royale brought players back after a 100-second death timer expired assuming squadmates had still survived.

While we don't yet know much about the respawns, we do know a bit more about the map itself. It's meant to be based on Korea, and the PUBG creators intend to capitalize on the game's importance in the country through creating this new map.

"For those of our readers and viewers that might not be aware, PUBG is a triumph of Korean game development," Curd said about the Codename: Tiger map. "It's their biggest game of all time, so there's this real patriotic pride they have in this game. They really wanted to honor their homeland and show off a version of their world that isn't traditionally seen in games. While respawn is really exciting, I'm just as excited for this new setting, the beautiful fall color, the novel architecture, and more."

Release dates for PUBG's new map and other features have not yet been announced.