New PUBG Trailer Introduces The Battle Royale Game's Official Lore

PUBG Corp. has released a new cinematic trailer for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The trailer, which can be watched below, showcases the origin of PUBG's first map, Erangel, and introduces the story behind the battle royale game.

In the trailer, a man recounts the time when he was a young boy in 1965 and his home, Erangel, was bombed by some unknown force. Resolving to live, the boy went on to survive by scavenging for weapons, medicines, and materials until he was the only person left alive on the island. Fast-forwarding to the present day, it's revealed the matches in PUBG are a series of live-streamed (and possibly televised) battles to the death--similar to The Hunger Games.

These matches are orchestrated by the man, now incredibly wealthy, who designed the battle royale games to be a test for discovering humanity's true survivors. The trailer ends with the man confirming these are his battlegrounds, identifying himself as the mysterious unknown player in PUBG's title.

Though PUBG's maps have hinted towards some sort of overarching narrative, this is the first confirmed lore for the battle royale game. PUBG Corp. hasn't revealed whether more story-focused trailers will be revealed in the future, but game theorists at least now have a starting point for piecing together PUBG's backstory.

The new trailer also acts as an announcement for the start date of PUBG's upcoming season, Season 4, which is scheduled to begin July 24. Season 4 is a massive update for PUBG, completely reinventing Erangel with new visuals, adding parkour movement mechanics, and introducing brand-new weapons, vehicles, and items. There's a new battle pass to work through as well, and it contains challenges that can be tackled cooperatively with your squad.

Season 4's start date closely follows a major PUBG update on Xbox One and PS4 that added Apex Legends' auto equip weapon attachment features to the console versions of the game. If you want to try out all the changes in Season 4, the patch is currently live on PUBG's PC test servers. On console, you'll need to wait for the update to officially launch to play through the changes.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A mobile port, called PUBG Mobile, is available on Android and iOS devices. Despite being relatively new, PUBG is one of the most influential games of the 21st century for popularizing one of gaming's most popular subgenres.

Though not a sequel, a new PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds game is in the works. The upcoming game is being developed by Striking Distance, a studio helmed by ex-Call of Duty and Dead Space developer Glen Schofield. Described as an "original narrative experience within the PUBG universe," the game is still in its infancy. Schofield has hinted the game may not necessarily be a battle royale like PUBG though.