Newly Renamed PUBG Going Free-To-Play For A Week

It's confirmed -- PUBG is going free-to-play!

Well, for a little while, at least.

PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds, which has apparently changed its official name to the redundant "PUBG: Battlegrounds," is running an event with South Korean girl group Blackpink. The promotion adds themed elements around the map, such as building decals, airplane tails, and black supply crates with pink smoke. You can also pick up 38 Blackpink-themed cosmetic items during the event, which runs from August 8 to September 7 on PC and August 12 to September 15 on consoles.

What does all this have to do with being free-to-play? Technically nothing, but the trailer announcing it below does. Skip to the final few seconds and you'll see the following in the corner: "Coming soon, Free Play Week, August 10-16."

So PUBG will be free-to-play next week, and if rumors are true, then this might be serving as a test for Krafton before a bigger, more permanent F2P transition in the future. At the very least, you can try the game out while the Blackpink event is going live, if hotpants and fishnet stockings are your thing.