That’s Some Oversimplified Misinformation, It Seems
There’s been a long-running criticism leveled against PUBG. Critics of the game suggest that a lot of the game’s visual assets were simply bought from the Unreal Marketplace. This kind of store-bought strategy, sometimes referred to as Asset Flipping, is something of a sore spot for fans and industry people alike. PUBG creator Brendan Greene recently spoke out regarding this touchy subject at this year’s E3.
Greene confessed that the asset flip accusations kill him a little inside every time he hears them. PUBG Corp member Ryan Rigney explained that while the team did “lean on” asset work in the beginning of the game’s development, this was not the case as new maps were created.
According to Rigney, using assets is “the only way you can spin up a game fast, and for a reasonable price, to quickly find the fun.” PUBG’s first map was a combination of outsourced Korean work, some asset purchases, and a small team in the Midwest. The second map involved an actual art team, but purchased were still used to a small extent. So, to clarify, PUBG does use purchased assets, but no asset flipping took place. I don’t claim to know the difference between buying assets and asset flipping, but there clearly is one, right?