PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been the surprise hit of 2017, racking up over 10 million sales and counting since its March debut on Steam's Early Access program. While a simple concept, the "Battle Royale" shooter has garnered a passionate following during its brief time on the market and current sits among the most played games on PC.
Back in June at E3 2017, Microsoft announced a partnership with the game's developer, Bluehole, which would see PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds hitting Xbox One ahead of other consoles. Since, Microsoft Studios has stepped onboard as the publisher on the platform, with a seemingly close relationship between the two firms in preparing a console debut. Now, according to a new report from Bloomberg, Microsoft and Bluehole are in talks to extend this exclusivity agreement, preventing expansions to further platforms over a longer period.
According to Bloomberg, Bluehole met an agreement with Microsoft to produce the game first on Xbox One in 2017, however, talks are now underway to extend this period further into next year. Although Bloomberg expanded little on the deal and how long exclusivity may last, the report stated these types of deals typically last "for about three months," prior to an extension. With Microsoft yet to clarify its agreement for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds outside of "launch exclusivity," it's still hard to gauge an idea of how long such a deal may last.
As always, take this news with a pinch of salt until we have official word, although such an extension wouldn't be surprising. Being the hottest game of the year by far, it's in the best interests of Sony and Tecent to see this deal end as soon as possible. In previous interviews, the game's creator has reportedly been in talks with Sony about a PlayStation 4 release, though official details are yet to emerge.
Matt Brown is Windows Central's Senior Games Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.
