The official PUBG Esports page announced that both PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile are joining esports under one stage: PUBG United. The global event begins in November in the Siam District of Bangkok, Thailand, hosting this year’s PGC and PMGC.

The event will feature an opening ceremony and create a “once-in-a-lifetime experience where the world’s top players will battle back-to-back in their respective Grand Finals.”

PUBG United begins on Nov. 24 and concludes on Dec. 14, 2025. Regarding the size of the respective platforms’ esports, PUBG Mobile esports is significantly bigger than the PC counterpart. Despite being on a mobile platform, the larger of the two also has high skill expression and widespread appeal, especially in Asia, where mobile gaming is more popular.

This contributes to the potential prize pool disparity for the tournament. PC’s PUBG Global Championship 2025 has a total pot of $1.5 million, whereas PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2025 has not officially announced its prize pool, but sources speculate the prize pool will increase from last year’s tournament, which was $3 million.

Despite being on a mobile platform, PUBG: Mobile has high skill expression and widespread appeal, especially in Asia, where mobile gaming is more popular than in western regions, such as the United States.

PUBG Mobile Esports’ biggest all-time prize money was roughly $110 million, while PUBG: Battlegrounds esports only had a peak of $61.2 million for the same figure. This disparity is largely driven by massive leagues, such as the Peacekeeper Elite League (PEL) in China.

Team Vietnam demonstrated its dominance in the PUBG Nations Cup 2025, consistently placing in the top three on each map and accumulating more kills than the competition. They ended the tournament with a score of 216 points, 61 points ahead of the second-place finisher, Team China.

The PUBG Nations Cup 2025 is the first iteration of the tournament that featured 24 countries, all vying for a chance to have a piece of the $500,000 prize pool. Ultimately, it was Team Vietnam that won the tournament and took home $150,000.

Here are the top five placers in the PUBG Nations Cup 2025:

• Vietnam
• China
• Thailand
• United States
• Germany

Team France, Sweden, Canada, Turkey, Malaysia, India, Japan and Spain were also in the tournament; however, they were eliminated during the survival stage, where the top eight teams out of 16 proceeded to the final stage. The teams that qualified for the final stage were:

• Indonesia
• Norway
• Philippines
• United Kingdom
• Denmark
• Germany
• Chinese Taipei
• Poland

The Nations Cup is PUBG’s all-star tournament of the game’s esports season. Top players are selected by their peers to represent their countries in this tournament. Last year, Team South Korea won the title, with Team United States finishing second. The PUBG Nations Cup is usually held in South Korea.

PUBG Mobile has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF). This move aimed at making the climb from casual to pro-level play in Saudi Arabia more structured, and more rewarding.

As part of the deal, SEF’s national tournament circuit, the Saudi eLeague, will integrate into the PUBG Mobile National Championship. It means that players across the Kingdom now have a direct shot at qualifying for the $3 million PUBG Mobile World Cup, which takes place this summer as part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.

It’s the latest in a series of moves by SEF to turn Saudi Arabia into a global esports hub. Just last year, the Federation signed a similar MoU with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton Games, and in early 2025, it opened the SEF Arena and SEF Academy, both designed to support local talent and infrastructure.

“The SEF continues to take bold steps to strengthen the Kingdom’s leadership in the global esports arena,” said HRH Prince Faisal Bin Bandar, President of the Saudi Esports Federation. “Through strategic collaborations with leading titles such as PUBG Mobile, we are expanding opportunities for our players, building sustainable pathways to international competition, and accelerating the development of a dynamic and thriving esports ecosystem.”

Team Versatile clinched the championship title at the Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS) 2025 Grand Finals, held from April 25 to 27 at the Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan in Kolkata. The squad finished with 169 points over 18 matches, earning the top prize of ₹69.6 lakh (approximately $83,500 USD).

GodLike Esports secured second place with 152 points, taking home ₹37.2 lakh (around $44,600 USD), while Orangutan finished third with 143 points and a prize of ₹26 lakh (about $31,200 USD). Reckoning Esports and True Rippers rounded out the top five.

The BGIS 2025 prize pool reached a record-breaking ₹3.2 crore ($384,000 USD), bolstered by strong sales of the tournament’s in-game crate. Krafton (the publisher of PUBG Mobile) allocated a portion of the crate’s revenue to expand the prize pool, allowing all 32 semifinalist teams to receive payouts — with even the bottom 16 teams awarded ₹3 lakh ($3,600 USD) each.

Admino from GodLike Esports was named the Realme MVP, while his teammate Jonathan took home both the Finals MVP and Fan Favorite Player awards. Team Versatile’s Saumraj was recognized as Best In-Game Leader, and his teammate Spower received the Best Clutch award. Bot Army’s ScaryyJOD earned the Emerging Star honor.

Krafton closed the event by announcing the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series (BMPS) 2025, set to begin on May 22 in New Delhi. The upcoming tournament will feature a ₹2 crore ($240,000 USD) prize pool.

PUBG Nations Cup (PNC) 2025 heads back to Seoul with a bigger number of competing teams. Krafton has officially announced that the event is set for late July at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea.

This year’s event marks the biggest PNC to date, expanding from 16 national teams competing to 24. South Korea, the reigning champions, will defend their title on home turf. With a total score of 143 Team Korea won the PUBG Nations Cup 2024 back-to-back following their 2023 triumph.

The full list of participating countries in 2025 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkiye, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

Nations like France, Poland, Spain, the Philippines, Sweden, and Malaysia are making their PNC debut this year, while Denmark and India are back in the mix after time away.

More information on match formats, prize pools, and broadcast schedules is expected to drop in the coming weeks.

PUBG Mobile has officially been unbanned in Bangladesh, nearly four years after the country’s High Court ordered it to be blocked. As of now, players can access the game using local mobile carriers and WiFi networks without workarounds like VPNs.

Confirmation came from several top esports figures and local media outlets. Also, the news was quickly confirmed across social media by celebratory reactions from local players and fans.

The battle royale giant, developed by KRAFTON, was banned back in 2021 after a court declared it “destructive,” citing concerns about its impact on youth behavior. It wasn’t alone—other apps like Free Fire and TikTok were also blocked in the same wave of digital crackdowns.

A free-to-play battle royale mobile adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds, co-developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and PUBG Studios, was banned back in 2021 after a court declared it “destructive,” citing concerns about its impact on youth behavior along with other apps like Free Fire and TikTok.

Despite the ban, the PUBG Mobile community in Bangladesh didn’t vanish. Players turned to VPNs to keep logging in, and some continued accessing the game through unstable loopholes that occasionally bypassed the restrictions. There were even reports of 108 players being arrested for participating in a PUBG Mobile LAN event in Chuadanga in 2022.

Before the ban, PUBG Mobile played a foundational role in shaping Bangladesh’s esports scene. Teams like A1 Esports gained international attention, even qualifying for the PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) in 2020.

PUBG Mobile was released by several publishers across various regions, including Krafton, Tencent, and VNG Games. By December 2022, the game had reached a milestone of approximately 1.3 billion downloads and generated over $9 billion in revenue. Besides that, it stands as one of the most-played mobile games in history, with 300 million monthly players. In 2021, the franchise expanded with the launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India, a localized version for Indian players, as well as New State Mobile, a futuristic spin-off set within the PUBG universe.

Turkish team Regnum Carya Esports won the PUBG Mobile Global Open (PMGO) 2025, which was hosted in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

In total the squad scored 106 points and two Chicken Dinners in 12 matches. The club gathered the tournament’s trophy and secured the prize of $100,000.

Regnum Carya Esports roster:

• Wild – Ridvan Arda Özçelik
• Loxy – Mahmut Diken
• sylas – Berkin Çetin
• Tospik – Okan Gökgöz
• Apocalyp – Deniz Dasci (Coach)

Nigma Galaxy claimed the second spot with 86 points and one Chicken Dinner. They received $50,000 in prize money. The third spot was taken by THE721 Aggressor with 85 points. They secured a prize of $40,000.

The Main Event of PMGO 2025 was organized under the Smash Rule, featuring 16 teams, including eight directly invited teams and eight teams from the previous rounds.

The total prize pool of the Global Open was $500,000, which was distributed among all participating teams in accordance with the gathered place:

1. Regnum Carya Esports – $100,000
2. Nigma Galaxy – $50,000
3. THE721 AGGRESSOR – $40,000
4. GOAT Quality – $30,000
5. REJECT – $24,000
6. LGD Gaming – $20,000
7. NEPX ESPORTS – $19,000
8. Nongshim RedForce – $18,000
9. D’Xavier – $17,000
10. AKE Cyber – $16,000
11. UPGRADE – $15,000
12. Black Esports – $14,000
13. 4Merical Vibes – $13,000
14. R8 Esports – $12,000
15. INFLUENCE RAGE – $11,000
16. Hellion Gaming – $10,000

A roadmap for 2025, featuring fresh content, gameplay enhancements, and other details, was unveiled for PUBG: Battlegrounds, published by Krafton and developed by Krafton’s PUBG Studios. This announcement was made on the occasion of the battle royale’s 8th anniversary.

One of the major announcements mentioned in the 2025 Roadmap is the expansion of PUBG’s in-game worlds. While no new maps are planned for this year, the developers are reworking existing battlegrounds with new features, interactions, and destructible terrain that was previously tested in Sanhok. The game is about to gradually introduce destructible elements to Taego, Miramar, and Erangel through seasonal updates and special events.

Besides that, developers also promised new vehicle interactions, more immersive Battle Royale combat and new tactical elements, like animal AI. 

Besides that, the devs will continue improving existing modes, such as Team Deathmatch (TDM), and introduce some new ones, like the roguelike mode Project Cyclops and the PAYDAY mode, developed in partnership with Starbreeze Entertainment.

Developers also hinted that PUBG is about to get collaborative content with other IPs. On top of that they are about to launch a User-Generated Content (UGC) project that will let players craft custom and share their creations within the community.

On the live service front, PUBG is set to unify Normal Match, Ranked, and Esports gameplay in order to make it easier for players to transition between modes. Additionally, developers promised more frequent gunplay balance updates, including a large-scale meta-rebalancing aimed at diversifying combat strategies and enhancing the overall playstyle. The Ranked mode will also see a revamp, introducing a new tier and rewards to further incentivize competitive play.

For the esports Esports fans Krafton plans events like the PUBG Global Series (PGS) and PUBG Nations Cup (PNC), and the new Third-Person Perspective (TPP) tournament – the PUBG Players Tour.

The shift to current-gen consoles (Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5) is a huge step in enhancing the game’s technical performance, addressing player feedback on graphical quality and stability. 

Developers also announced the transition to Unreal Engine 5 planned to be delivered through 2025 with visual upgrades in priority.

It is worth noting that as of December 2024, PUBG: Battlegrounds has sold over 84 million copies worldwide across PC and console platforms since its launch in 2017. This figure does not include the free-to-play mobile version, PUBG Mobile, which, as of December 2024, has generated over $10 billion in revenue since its release in March 2018.

Prize pools of $139,000 each were announced for the PUBG Players Tour in EMEA and the Americas, along with the schedules.

The PUBG Players Tour was established in 2019 and, since then, has become an integral part of PUBG esports. The 2025th tournament structure is split into four main events: PUBG Players Scrims, PUBG Players Cups, and final tournaments, the PUBG Players Super Cups and the PUBG Players Masters.

PUBG Players Scrims are gonna kick off, offering up to four match days per week. Top teams from Scrims will earn their spot in the PUBG Players Cups.

In the PUBG Players Cups teams will face off against each other and also a select number of invited teams from PUBG’s Regional Partner Team program. Cups will be broadcast live and will feature cash prizes for the top teams.

All needed to qualify for Super Cups or Masters in 2025 is to finish within the top eight teams at a Players Cups. As there’s no seasonal leaderboard or league, just one good performance can secure a spot at Super Cups or Players Masters.

PUBG Players Scrims

• March 17, 18, 19, 20
• March 24 – 25
• March 31, April 1, 2, 3
• April 5 – 6
• April 14, 15, 16, 17
• April 21, 22, 23, 24
• May 12, 13, 14, 15
• May 19, 20, 21, 22
• June 6, 7, 8, 9
• June 11 – 12
• June 23, 24, 25, 26
• July 7, 8, 9, 10
• July 14, 15, 16, 17

PUBG Players Cups

• March 24 – 25
• April 19 – 20
• April 26 – 27
• May 17 – 18
• May 24 – 25
• June 28 – 29
• July 12 – 13
• July 19 – 20

PUBG Players Masters & Super Cups

• Masters: April 11 – 13
• Super Cup: May 9 – 11
• Super Cup: May 30 – June 1
• Masters: July 4 – 6
• Super Cup: July 28 – 30

PUBG Esports released a new point distribution system set to organize the race to the PUBG Global Championship (PGC) starting from the PUBG Global Series (PGS) describing all the ways of point earning.

The 2025 PUBG Global Series will still feature a series of four rounds, each with its own point distribution. Teams’ performances throughout the season will accumulate points, and the top 8 highest-scoring teams from the PGS rankings will earn direct invitations to the PUBG Global Championship. In total, 24 teams will compete in the PGS, including 14 from regional competitions and 10 PUBG Global Partner Teams.

Meanwhile, the PGC itself has expanded for 2025 in comparison with previous years up to 33 teams total. This expansion means more chances for teams to qualify through the regional series, PGS, and the addition of a Wild Card slot that grants a direct invitation to the PGC 2025 grand finals. 

It is worth noting that if a team earns a PGC seed from the PGS points and also qualifies through their regional series, the next highest-ranking team from that region will be given the opportunity for a PGC seed.

Different regions have their own point systems, all designed to reflect the intensity and competition of their respective scenes. In Korea, for example, the PUBG Weekly Series (PWS) rewards teams with a series of points based on their weekly performance, with the final round offering the most significant rewards. The PWS: Phase 2 in Korea, for instance, distributes points across 4 weeks, with the top team earning up to 120 points in the finals.

The PUBG Champions League in China offers some of the highest point values across the board. For instance, the PCL Spring series rewards the top team with 200 points, while the autumn edition boosts this to 300 points, making it an essential competition for teams in the region.

Meanwhile, in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), the PUBG EMEA Championship points system provides rankings for both the spring and fall editions. The highest-scoring team in the spring tournament takes home 200 points, while the fall edition bumps it up to 250 points, reinforcing the importance of every region’s championship event.

In the Americas and APAC regions, the point distributions are similarly structured, with various local and regional competitions contributing to the global standings.