PUBG: Battlegrounds boss, Taeseok Jang, has made comments on the growing buzz of ARC Raiders and how the extraction shooter genre has a bright future. PUBG first launched in 2017, establishing itself as one of the titans of the battle royale genre. Its premise is simple: 100 players drop onto an island and fight each other to be the last one standing, claiming the iconic “chicken dinner” winner message. The game faces stiff competition from the likes of Apex Legends and Fortnite, but continues to maintain a solid and active player base.
Recently, it was revealed that PUBG as a franchise is now venturing beyond its battle royale roots. Krafton announced PUBG: Black Budget, a first-person extraction shooter centered on tension, survival, and the unpredictable. The game’s reveal excited many within the PUBG community, but some fans over on Reddit and Twitter raised concerns about whether diverting resources away from the flagship game to spin-offs was the right call. Despite the skepticism, PUBG Studios believes that the extraction shooter market holds a lot of promise, and the genre is far from just another trend.
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PUBG Boss Talks About ARC Raiders and Extraction Shooters
In an interview with IGN, PUBG Studios’ head Taeseok Jang shared his thoughts on the extraction shooter genre. When asked whether it could eventually surpass battle royale, he expressed his belief in its potential, and that’s the reason why the studio is focusing resources on Black Budget. He acknowledged that the genre is “very complicated” compared to traditional shooters in terms of gameplay, and it’s not “easy to make a good extraction shooter.” That said, the success of ARC Raiders makes him believe that the genre has a lot of promise if it is executed well.
The gaming community has always had a complicated relationship with extraction shooters, but ARC Raiders seemingly flipped that narrative in a big way. Since its debut in late 2025, ARC Raiders has shipped over 12 million copies and continues to sit near the top of Steam charts in terms of player numbers. Its appeal lies in a core gameplay loop that’s easy to dive into yet unique and brings a well-balanced blend of PvE and PvP that fits a wide variety of playstyles. ARC Raiders arrived as a breath of fresh air in an industry where players had grown tired of hero shooters and battle royales. This is why it comes as no surprise that PUBG is now taking a shot at the genre with Black Budget.
However, fans believe that PUBG Studios needs to approach the game carefully, especially after the underwhelming response to PUBG: Blindspot. The spin-off brought a 5v5 top-down tactical shooter format where players selected agents and competed against each other in squad-based matches. It launched on Steam and was eventually bombarded with negative reviews due to its controls, server instability, and matchmaking issues. The developers ultimately decided to shut down Blindspot on March 30, 2026.
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Even though the spin-off didn’t make its mark, the flagship game itself continues to thrive. PUBG recently got a new co-op game mode alongside the highly anticipated Stellar Blade crossover. As the game continues to evolve, fans can’t wait to see what Krafton has in store for the future of one of the best battle royale games in the genre.
- Released
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March 23, 2017
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Violence
Source: IGN
