Do you gather a group of friends to play PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or are you more of a lone wolf? We wouldn’t blame you either way, as we are well aware of how fun and captivating the game can be. And if you have fallen in love with dropping from the sky, scrambling to find resources to ensure your survival, maybe you’d like to see what else the battle royale genre can offer. Keep in mind, we will primarily be dealing with games for PC. But, we promise the popularity of PUBG Mobile made us consider buying a more powerful smartphone. With that in mind, here are the games like PUBG.
1. Apex Legends
The first of the games that are similar to PUBG is its direct competitor. Apex Legends, a free-to-play, first-person shooter has a very similar feel. But, instead of regular humans, you have the chance to play as one of the 13 characters. You can see the full review of those classes in our Apex Legends review. The premise is the same – drop from the sky, make sure you land in a relatively safe position and start gathering resources such as health packs and weapons. You’ll be teamed up with two random people, or can create a premade group of your own. A game is also limited to 60 players, typically, separated into 20 teams.
2. Fortnite
Fortnite is also a first-person shooter, online multiplayer game. It is also a direct competitor to PUBG and Apex Legends and was known as a member of the “holy trio” before games in the genre came out. The game is set in a SciFi world that looks very cartoonish in comparison to others. But that’s part of the appeal! Plus, you get to craft a wide variety of items, and some of them on the spot – building unnatural structures on the spot! Use them to set an ambush or as a defensive cover, it’s up to you how you decide to protect your life. There is also a parkour element to the game, where you can jump around, and even fly using certain items. Plus, there are plenty of skins that allow character customization.
3. Call of Duty: Warzone
The main point of all of the games on our list is, of course, survival. And just like in PUBG, you are parachuted down to the ground with nothing to your name. Then, you are forced to get to armor and weapons before your enemies do, and ultimately be the last mand standing. How you achieve that – by being aggressive, passive and sneaky, or even spending the entire game in a sniper’s nest, only moving occasionally, is up to you. There are up to 150 players looking to get you, so the game is bloody hard! It’s also notorious for its size, so prepare a spare hard disk drive.
4. Hyper Scape
Ubisoft’s contender for the battle royale throne is Hyper Scape. The game forces you to fight to the death in an urban environment. It is very fast-paced, and possibly the fastest battle royale we’ve played. Through so-called hacks, you can also perform moves such as acceleration, double jumping, auto-mantling, teleporting, and manipulate gravity. Granted, if you’re a low-key person, you can use the hacks to become invisible, transform into things, or lay traps for an ultimate ambush. You won’t waste time spectating friends either, since you can travel to the revive station like a ghost, and resume battle.
5. Cuisine Royale
This game started as a joke, and while everyone laughed at first, they were enamored by the idea, and the game amassed a cult following. This is primarily because the developers tend to deliver a constant stream of updates. Also, instead of real-world military equipment, you use various kitchenware as armor, hence the name. The game has a simplistic approach, and you’ll use weapons from the World War 2 era. Plus, the number of players in the game is significantly reduced compared to PUBG, so it makes for a more intimate, friend-or-foe focused experience.
6. The Culling: Origins
On a list of PUBG alternatives, this is one of the more interesting ones. Based on the game released back in 2016, it saw players spawn on a remote island, and fight to the death in a lush forest. It is a free-to-play game that promises never to implement pay-to-win mechanics into the game. Each game allows you to play solo or with one person, and contains 16 players in total. The match also lasts approximately 20 minutes because a deadly gas slowly reduces the available area. There is also a large focus on traps, melee combat and ranged weapons, although firearms are included too.
7. Rules of Survival
We would sort this one into one of the best combat games on PC. It is simultaneously the first 120-player battle royale game on mobile and the first 300-player battle royale game on PC. With that said, it has all you’d expect. You’re dropped in alone in with a team of up to 5 players and will fight ruthless enemies, shoot guns, drive vehicles, and escape the spreading gas and a closing zone. As the creators nicely put it, you’re not playing a game, you’re writing the rules of survival.
8. Z1 Battle Royale
The creators describe the game as a free-to-play action-arcade based on a highly competitive battle royale mode. We wouldn’t change a thing, except to throw in the description as a horror game. But, the choice of weapons isn’t all that great, and you cannot pick where to parachute from. That’s both scary and exhilarating since it guarantees that you’ll spawn with enemy players nearby, leading to immediate bloodshed. We liked that the game is more fast-paced compared to PUBG, which includes a lot of hiding.
9. Accurate Battlegrounds
Although the name makes it seem like it is a parody on PUBG, it is not. It all started as an April Fool’s Day joke. The game was supposed to be a sequel to Totally Accurate Battle Simulator. Accidentally, it became one of the most interesting games back in 2018. We won’t pretend it is advanced or on the same level as PUBG, but it is fun, that’s for sure. The art style is very goofy and the players act as ragdolls in terms of physics. They will stumble, fall, tumble, and flop on staircases, and even be blown backward after firing a gun.
10. Dying Light: Bad Blood
Unlike its single-player alternative, Dying Light: Bad Blood is among the PUBG like games that are played online. It is still classified as a zombie game, but you are not left to your own devices to come up with a plan to beat a horde of zombies. This time, you have a combination of PvP (Player vs. Player) and PvE (Player vs Environment), fighting against or alongside 11 other players. You are required to collect blood samples and ultimately escape the map with them by eventually spawning a helicopter. The same parkour elements from the base game are present and will help you jump across buildings in a mad dash for your life.
11. Ring of Elysium
Ring of Elysium was bound to find its place on the list of similar games to PUBG. It is also a massively popular game in the genre and based on the same premise. You and your enemies spawn on the same map, called the Europa island, and scramble to find resources. Besides human opponents, you are also in danger of volcanic ashes, and only the last four people standing can be rescued with the helicopter. Besides a nice choice of weapons, we were pleasantly surprised by the choice of vehicles at your disposal. One of those was a very versatile vehicle – a BMX bike.
12. Rust: Battle Royale
Using the resources of the original multiplayer survival game, Rust: Battle Royale is an unofficial game mode. Technically, several servers are running this modification. We suspect Rust might make it official one day, seeing how popular it is. With that said, you start completely naked, with just a rock to defend your life. Find clothing, food, weapons, and equipment, and play as a lone wolf or form an alliance with others. We suggest the former since only one of you will be the last man standing, regardless of how close you all get.
13. Unturned: Arena Mode
This might not be the game you expected to see here. Instead of realistic graphics, it is a sandbox survival game that uses chunk-like graphics and can be considered a Minecraft alternative in that regard. Even character models are reminiscent of Minecraft models, so you’ll feel right at home. And while it has both an offline and one mode, the focus is on the Arena Mode. It is an online last-man-standing game, where you, alongside other players, spawn at random locations on a map. Then, you all pick up the weapons and use a preferred playstyle to come out as the winner.
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout
As if Call of Duty: Warzone wasn’t enough, here’s another AAA game with a battle royale mode to it. The original game never shipped with a single-player mode in 2018, which was customary up to that point. With that in mind, the Blackout mode allows players to experience maps from the original Black Ops 4 in a completely different way. The first of which was Alcatraz, the map of the well-known prison, with more on the way. You can play solo, duo, or in a team of 4, and your only goal – survive the incoming slaughter.
15. Infestation: The New Z
Here’s a game that is a battle royale, free to play, and set in a massive open world. Well, that depends on you, since you have a choice of maps and landscapes. With that said, you can play alone or in a group of five players, and play in both first and third person, depending on your preference. The player can fight zombies or enemy players, collect loot and trade it at a trading lounge. You can also fully customize your character’s skin, clothes, sprays, making the game more personal. The game also has a custom software against abusers, Fredaikis Anti-Cheat.
16. Islands of Nyne: Battle Royale
This game was created by a group of game design rookies and newcomers. At first, was great. You could automatically equip weapon attachments and switch them without opening the inventory, something players in PUBG often requested. A single match was also limited to about 50 players. But, after a while, the updates stopped coming frequently. The streamers that were paid to promote the game started criticizing it. Luckily, the game has a dedicated fanbase and is still alive and slowly thriving. We hope the issues will be sorted out at some point.
17. Ark: Survival Evolved
We’ve all seen the open-world multiplayer survival game, giving us a chance to travel back to prehistoric times and fight, tame, or completely avoid dinosaurs. After the battle royale craze, the game’s creators introduced a Survival of the Fittest game mode. It puts 72 players on an island to pit against each other. And players are not the only thing you need to worry about. Hunger, thirst, bloodthirsty wild dinosaurs, or even those tamed and trained by players, present a deathly threat as well.
18. GTA V: Smuggler’s Run
There’s no doubt that GTA V Online is the source of fun for millions of people. Official and custom mods allow players to experience their weirdest fantasies. Well, Smuggler’s Run is one of them. It is a free game mode, which allows players to parachute anywhere on the massive map of the city or countryside. The zone slowly gets smaller and smaller, bringing everyone closer together until a showdown ensues. If you wondered what a mix of GTA V and PUBG looks like, here it is.
19. ARMA 3: Battle Royale
Although not officially part of the game, PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battle Royale is a game mod for ARMA 3 based on the book and movie Battle Royale. After installing the mod, join a custom server, and start surviving. It might look like a clone of PLAYERUNKNOWN’s BattleGrounds, but in reality, it was developed by the same people as PUBG. It was was actually how the game came to be. If you want to experience its unpolished origins and play an old-school game, here’s a chance.
20. Battlefield 5: Firestorm
We’ve all heard of Battlefield, a long stream of great first-person shooter games. Well, one of the game modes inside of the Battlefield 5, named Firestorm, adds a Battle Royale feel to the game. You’ll have the same Battlefield feeling, mind you, and access to the weapons and vehicles you are already used to. But instead of picking your weapon before you are spawned on a large Scandinavia-based map with 63 other players, you’ll have to scavenge for weapons, ammunition, and gadgets.