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PUBG map Taego was initially based on Seoul, but it “turned out much differently”

"We tested the map every week and gradually tweaked it"

A shot of new PUBG map Taego which was originally based on Seoul

Earlier this month, PUBG’s new map Taego dropped, giving players the chance to try out the first new 8×8 map since Miramar. Set in South Korea, the map has a real mixture of environments, with towns, compounds, and rural terrain, and it turns out it was initially based on the country’s capital city, though it ended up turning out “much differently” to what the devs expected.

That’s according to PUBG in-game unit lead Taehyun Kim, who we spoke to about the new Taego map. “At first, we designed Taego based on Seoul, the capital city of South Korea,” he tells us. “However, the final product turned out much differently than we expected.

It sounds like this evolution into something pretty different from the devs’ initial intentions happened over the course of playtesting and adjusting it, as Kim explains. “We tested the map every week and gradually tweaked it,” Kim tells us. “Taego is the product of our careful considerations and experiences as world developers and players. To be specific, we first find references for rivers, swamps, and villages and try to implement all of it as accurately as possible.”

As well as being a much larger map than others that have come to PUBG in some time, Taego also reflects the look and feel of a part of the world that’s not often reflected in games, something Kim is fond of about the map. “While developing and experimenting with small maps, I found myself missing the exploration of larger maps like Erangel and creating my own storylines in the process,” the dev tells us. “Every location on Taego is special to me. I like the fact that Taego really captures the nostalgic look of South Korea – you don’t get this in any other game.”

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As players will now be discovering, Taego’s got its own key firefight hotspots, too, which Kim discusses, telling us the terminal is designed to be just such a spot, while “the tall buildings with rooftops, plentiful loot, and easy building layout on Taego are intended to encourage players to quickly engage in combat.”

Taego is now available to play in PUBG as of patch 12.2, with a new map-exclusive Comeback BR feature – a Call of Duty: Warzone Gulag-like mechanic that gives players a second chance at chasing down a chicken dinner if they die – as well as an (also Taego-exclusive) Self-AED option to self-revive if downed.