Competitive PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is back in 2021 with the PUBG Continental Series 4. KRAFTON Inc. has announced the scheduling, ruleset, prize pools and other details surrounding all upcoming tournaments.
This season will feature a set of tournaments spread out across four primary regions: the Americas, Europe, Asia and Asia-Pacific. The top 16 teams from each of the regions will be invited to the PCS4 Grand Final event where they will fight it out to determine the best team in the world.
Here’s everything you need to know about the PUBG Continental Series 4.
How is the series structured?
Battle royale matches include hundreds of teams, meaning the PCS4 will have to host a number of qualifying rounds to narrow down the competition. North America and Latin America will host open qualifiers that run from May 5 to May 12.
A select number of teams will move from qualifiers to a group stage and then to Grand Final. Other teams will have another chance to qualify through last chance qualifiers on the weekend of May 22.
The top 32 teams out of 80 NA teams and 128 LATAM teams will make it out of the first round of open qualifiers. Rounds 2 and 3 will eliminate teams until the series is down to the top 8 teams from each region. These teams will then compete in the group stage.
How does the PUBG Continental Series 4 handle the group stage?
The group stages will include the top 8 teams from the open qualifier of each sub-region and 16 teams who receive invites based off performances at the ESL PUBG Masters event. These 24 teams will duke it out in a best of 30 over the course of six days in order to determine who makes it into the Grand Final event.
The top six teams from NA and LATAM at the end of the group stage get invited to the Grand Final. The seventh to 14th placing teams from the group stage will have a chance to secure a spot by playing through a last chance qualifier, where the top 4 will advance.
It all comes down to the Grand Final
The top 6 NA and LATAM teams, in addition to the 4 last chance qualifier teams, will play each other in 36 matches in order to determine the overall winner. The final will take place across three weekends. Here are the dates for each region:
- Americas: June 10-11 | June 17-18 | June 24-25
- Asia Pacific: June 10-11 | June 17-18 | June 24-25
- Europe: June 12-13 | June 19-20 | June 26-27
- Asia: June 12-13 | June 19-20 | June 26-27
Players are divided on new format
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has gone through a handful of different rulesets, each prioritizing a different part of the game. PCS4’s ruleset prioritizes the point placement system in the SUPER rulebook. Teams will receive one point per kill alongside a specific number of points for the placement a team has in each match. Only the top 8 teams will receive points.
2021’s competitive season will put the heaviest focus on winning matches. The team with the most first place finish will win that series, meaning chicken dinners are now the most important element. Kills will only be used as a tiebreaker. This new system will start with the Grand Final in June, although some regions will adapt it earlier.
“We want the Chicken Dinner to mean something again, since currently the winner is not always clear due to complicated score tallying, and this new system will ensure that a winner is determined as a match concludes,” reads a blog post on the official PUBG site. Some players aren’t thrilled about the change as it puts more focus on avoiding fights to earn a higher placement.
“Points means nothing,” said PUBG player Vladyslav “Orange” Ostroushko. “Welcome back to 2017, where 64 are alive at the 6th circle and teams who win with 1 kill just because the circle ended in their house.”
For more detailed information, here is the PUBG Global rulebookÂ
How can I watch the PUBG Continental Series 4?
Matches will be streamed on the official PUBG Esports Twitch and YouTube channels.
The Pick’em challenge is also returning. Fans can earn in-game rewards by predicting the placings of each regional tournament. Fans will be able to vote using coupons obtained by purchasing special PCS4 items in the shop or by watching tournaments. Thirty percent of the revenue generated from PCS4 item sales will be added to the overall prize pool.
