PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is Free This Weekend for Xbox Live Gold Members

• Popular battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is free to play this weekend on the Xbox One.
• The free weekend is available only to Xbox Live Gold members.
• The game will be free to play until Sunday, April 22, 11.59 pm ET.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds experienced a cult following even in its early access days on PC, and it also was published on Xbox One recently. The console version of the game is still in early access and will be available to all Xbox Live Gold members for free from April 19 to April 22.

The game is a 100-person massive arena shooter that experienced spectacular sales numbers and concurrent player base counts. The game is priced at $30, which is half of what most popular releases cost these days. The game has no DLC or pay-to-win mechanics, but it does have loot boxes that offer cosmetic items.

Image Courtesy of Microsoft

While the game is popular and has come a long way regarding optimization on PC, the Xbox One version doesn’t quite live up to expectations as reported by Ars Technica. The website tested the game’s performance on the Xbox One as well as the more powerful Xbox One X over the past three months. Despite updates, framerate dips still exist making the game less enjoyable than what it can be.

Fortnite, the game that’s stealing all the spotlight from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a free alternative to the game that performs quite better with a locked 60 frames per second on consoles. Unlike PUBG, Fortnite is available on the PlayStation 4 as well.

Despite some of the advantages of Fortnite, the larger interface of PUBG and precise combat makes the game more engaging than its free counterpart. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds also has a free to play version for mobile devices if you want to keep playing past the free weekend without spending money on the game. If you plan on playing during the free weekend and obtain the full version of the game in the future, your progress from the weekend will carry over.