Krafton has officially canceled PUBG: Black Budget, its extraction shooter spin-off, less than a year after its announcement. The publisher stated that the decision was made because the game's current direction would not provide an experience players could enjoy over the long term, suggesting it wasn't fun enough to retain an audience.
In a Steam update, Krafton explained that PUBG Studios will incorporate lessons learned from Black Budget's development and testing into future projects. The studio intends to continue listening to player feedback as it explores new gameplay experiences. Black Budget marks the second PUBG spin-off to be canceled, following the tactical shooter PUBG: Blindspot, which was shut down in March after only two months in early access due to Krafton's inability to sustainably provide the intended level of experience.
The extraction shooter genre is a crowded market, often dominated by established titles. The live-service model itself is also fraught with challenges, with many recent projects failing to maintain player interest beyond their initial launch. Games like Highguard, a free-to-play shooter, lasted just over a month before shutting down, highlighting the difficulty in sustaining live-service titles. PUBG franchise director Taeseok Jang has previously acknowledged the significant challenges in achieving success within this competitive space.
Krafton does have another PUBG-related project in development: Ded.Net, a grindhouse-themed multiplayer shooter. This title is being developed by PUBG Madison, a Wisconsin-based studio, and was announced in August during Gamescom.