'PUBG Blindspot' named as next PUBG spinoff: New 5v5 tactical shooter from PUBG developer, formerly 'Project ARC'

PUBG: Battlegrounds publisher, Krafton, gave us a sneak peek at its next project, originally titled Project ARC, late last year, and it has now confirmed that the new game will be called PUBG: Blindspot when it launches later this year. 

The official announcement came by way of the developer's official Discord community, and it sort of confirms that, despite the indie look and feel of PUBG: Blindspot, the developer is taking the new tactical shooter seriously. According to a recent Steam Community post, it was quite a challenge to come up with a name that both conveyed the game's intentions and was punchy enough in both English and international markets. 

PUBG: Blindspot is a 5v5 online, PvP tactical shooter, and, judging by the looks of the trailer, it will demand a degree of environmental awareness, coordination, and strategic teamwork to play at any reasonably competitive level. The level design features tight indoor spaces, and visibility is limited, despite the top-down isometric view. 

The link between PUBG: Blindspot and the original PUBG game appears to be more than skin-deep, too. Previous character teasers revealed by Krafton and The PUBG Corporation featured the iconic PUBG winning phrase "Winner winner, chicken dinner," and the character backstory for a playable character named Apex directly references Battlegrounds. It remains to be seen just how many call-backs there will be to the original PUBG, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Blindspot riff on peculiarities like the PUBG pan meme. 

The PUBG: Blindspot has already had a closed beta test, offering fans a chance to test the game and provide feedback, and it appears to be in a fairly complete state, especially given how recently it was revealed. For now, Krafton and The PUBG Corporation have set the release date for PUBG: Blindspot also haven't set a release date for the new game, but a 2025 or 2026 launch seems likely. 

These sorts of lightweight top-down games have experienced something of a boom in recent years, with the rise in popularity of handheld consoles like the Asus ROG Ally X (curr. $799.99 at Best Buy) and Valve Steam Deck. However, it remains to be seen if Krafton and The PUBG Corporation will even allow gamers on Steam Deck to play PUBG: Blindspot, since the original PUBG's anti-cheat cut off Linux gamers some time ago.