It would be easy to think that H1Z1: King of the Kill developers Daybreak would consider PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as their sworn enemy. They are two exceptionally similar battle royale games, after all. Yet Daybreak actually considers PUBG to be a great presence, admitting that, while they are competitors, the rivalry is friendly.
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Talking to us at Gamescom, H1Z1 senior product manager Adriaan Noordzij says: “[PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is] absolutely bringing an enormous amount of new players to the genre, which is great. Introducing battle royale to more and more people is a fantastic thing for the genre.”
“I think it’s awesome that we can grow together, and we can continue to really define what battle royale means to players and give gamers an awesome experience,” he adds.
But while there are clear similarities between H1Z1 and PUBG, Noordzij believes both games are going in different directions. “We’re going in two very different directions and I think there’s going to be two very different types of players for that experience,” he says.
“I think we’re the fast-paced, action-packed battle royale game,” Noordzij elaborates. “We’re definitely leaning more into speed and aggression, being the thing that drives player behaviour.”
In aid of fulfilling that vision, King of the Kill will soon be receiving a massive combat update. “This is definitely the biggest update we’ve done since our September update back in 2016,” Noordzij says. “Complete weapon re-balance, a complete overhaul of the game in terms of how it feels and how it plays.”