PlayerUknown's Battlegrounds has added a new set of tools that gamers can use to create replays of their matches. The feature doesn't just capture static video from the player's perspective but rather, recreates a one-kilometer radius bubble of the map respective to the user's avatar.
Essentially, the replay captures all the action happening around the player, even if he or she is unaware of it. For example, say you want to find out how that guy snuck up on you. Run the replay, take control of the camera and find the player. You'll be able to follow their movements right up to when you were killed (and beyond).
For PUBG streamers and YouTubers, this could allow them to create cinematic replays for some of their more decisive and exciting matches. The tools also allow for 3D spectating and could change the way we view video game replays and esport competitions.
The tech was jointly developed by PUBG studios and a South Korean company called Minkonet. Battlegrounds is the first game to use the new technology but the firm has aspirations to license it to many more games. According to Engadget, Minkonet has already received numerous phone calls from developers interested in the replay tools.
"We've been getting a lot of calls and a lot of interest," said Minkonet's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Gilbert Kim. "Getting in new games is really competitive, and every feature counts, but we see data capture and replay technology is probably going to be mainstream in the next few years. ... I think this is going to unleash new content that's never been seen before in games, and it's just starting. It's just starting right now."
Currently, the tools are only available for the PC version of PUBG. Minkonet did say that it has plans to infiltrate consoles but it did not provide a clue as to when that would happen.
"It's definitely going to happen," was all Kim would say.
For now, the developers are focusing on adding a few more features to the software. However, talks have already begun regarding implementing the tools in other games. We should start seeing it introduced in similar titles later this year.
"We are just starting, but demand has been great," Kim said. "We just opened an LA office in the US. There are going to be several more projects [in 2018]."