Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds is one of the hottest video games these days, after all, it is the game that made Battle Royale popular. The game has created a large following, and given its highly competitive nature, the PUBG Global Invitation was born.
The 2018 event is the first world championship in competitive PUBG and marks a huge milestone for the game. The eSports tournament features 20 teams from all over the world. The total prize that’s to be distributed amongst the teams based on their performance is of $2,000,000. The prize money is distributed according to how well each team plays given different conditions on each day of the tournament.
For example, today was the first day, and the matches were played in the third-person view. Some players are just better in first-person while others are better in the other view. The second half of the tournament will be played in the first-person mode as well. As far as the location goes, it’s all going down in Berlin where people can watch it live or you can just go on Twitch to view it online.
Time for some PUBG#PGI2018 pic.twitter.com/cT1zRoj5Wn
— Alex Penn (@alexpenn) July 25, 2018
Whether or not watching eSports is your thing, you have to admire the setup, the dedication and the atmosphere surrounding the entire event. The place looks like a proper world championship, for a game which has hardly been out for 1-2 years, it’s a huge achievement. Here are some of the most impressive and visually stunning moments from PGI ’18:
The Stage
The stage for the event looks just amazing. PUBG Corp really went all out with this event and you can tell by just looking at the stage and the setup the players were given to play with. Everything was professional, from the machines to the headsets to the chairs even, as you would expect from any eSports event.
Each team was given their own space to play and the way it’s set up just looks visually impressive. The setup here offers the live audience two different views. If someone from the audience wants to concentrate on the action happening in-game, then they can turn their attention to the huge screens put in place to showcase the matches taking place.
However, a lot of people like to watch how professional players play. There’s a certain way each player plays, the way they move their mouses, the clicks and everything, it all adds up. Although these may seem like trivial things, each of these small things makes a difference for these players, and many people like to observe, to perhaps improve their own game in the process. This is also the case for many people concentrating on the gameplay because gameplay movements are just as important.
Overall, the stage was really something and it really gives off the vibes of an event that’s a big deal, which is what PUBG wants to achieve. The next few days should be really enjoyable.
The crowd and environment
Even a bad event gets turned into a good one if the crowd is energetic throughout. The crowd in Berlin is just that, they’re all hardcore PUBG fans and each of them has a team they’re rooting for. The crowd makes the environment much better than it already is which makes the event ten times better overall. Check out this video:
Pretty lit day at #PGI2018 today, and so nice to meet so many both new and familiar faces! Looking forward for the upcoming days! Oh and here's a clip from @TeamLiquid grabbing a chicken dinner! pic.twitter.com/oJCFIfB018
— frosz (@FroszTV) July 25, 2018
The short video captures a lot of things great about this event. It not only shows the great setup for the event, the lighting, screens, and everything. It also shows how passionate and invested the crowd is into everything that’s taking place before them. There are teams that they want to root for, and it’s all about having a good time for everyone. If the live audience shows this much energy throughout the rest of the event, then it’s going to be a huge victory for PUBG.
The matches and gameplay itself
We’ve talked a lot about how great the setup, environment and the crowd was, however, was the actual gameplay content worth watching? Of course, it was! The competition featured 20 of the best teams in the world, it was everything you’d expect it to be; highly competitive, exciting and full of drama.
Each team gave their best efforts for day 1, some even dominated for a bit. For example, team Liquid was able to get two wins in a row in convincing fashion. The commentary for the gameplay was available in English and Chinese which was good because a large portion of the game’s fanbase comes from China.
Of course, the dynamic created by PUBG Corp by making the first two days Third-Person only meant that some teams might thrive at the expense of other teams. However, those other teams will have a chance to redeem themselves when the tournament shifts gears and changes to First-person in the last days of the tournament.
Overall, the event so far has been nothing short of spectacular and we expect it to stay that way for the remainder of the competition. No matter who wins, in the end, the real winners are the people watching because they are getting thoroughly entertained. If you want to watch the action live, you can do so on Twitch. If you missed Day 1, then you can watch it here.
Here are the rankings after Day 1:
