PUBG Esports teams have been told that branded in-game skins for the upcoming Global Championship they were promised earlier this year will no longer be happening. PUBG Corp broke the news to the players via email, citing problems in the development process, informing them that the items would be replaced by 12 generic PUBG PGC skins.
The branded skins were to be used by PUBG Esports pros in-competition, and would have been a source of revenues as 25% of sales would go back to their parent organisation. Now, instead, sales of the dozen regular skins will only go towards the Global Championship prize pool, while PUBG Corp is planning a Pick ‘Em event that will offer some form of revenue share to compensate teams for the lost income.
The email, which was sent out in-lieu of an upcoming official public statement from PUBG Corp, states the change of plan is an issue of quality assurance. The development process and an “inability to ensure a high enough quality of skin” generated concerns and challenges from PDU and Seoul HQ that led to them halting the content.
With the likes of Cloud9, OpTic, NRG, and Team Vitality, some of the biggest esports groups in the world, having already left competitive PUBG, this sets a worrying precedent. Members of the PUBG Esports community have expressed concern that this will only lead to others backing out, too.
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“The issue that arises with this is that PUBG is going backwards when all the feedback and suggestions we’ve given them is supposed to push it forward. It honestly feels like they want the PUBG Esports scene to die out,” one PUBG analyst told The Loadout. “Everyone in the scene is now worried it’s going to crumble after PGC because major organisations will leave. It’s looking very dire for the whole PUBG esports scene.”
PUBG Esports is expected to make an official statement today at 14:00 BST (06:00 PDT).