'PUBG' 4x4 Island Map Gameplay Teased at GDC 2018

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds fans have clamored for details about the game's new 4x4 Island map, and we've got a few snippets to share. During a GDC talk Friday afternoon, PUBG creator and Director Brendan Greene dropped a few hints for eager fans and tweeted them a few hours later.

The Island map is roughly half the size of a standard PUBG arena, but scope isn't the only difference apparent in these screenshots. In contrast to the darker, grittier environments of its predecessors, this one is full of bright colors and rolling hills with a soothing river snaking throughout. With regard to cover, tight firefights will likely take place in quaint village huts. Out in the open, tall grass provides perfect concealment for snipers. Even though the map's purpose seems fairly solidified, Greene cautioned the new PUBG island map is still early in development.

PUBG 's Island map was first teased in the game's 2018 Roadmap earlier this month. Provided the listed dates are still accurate, it's due to arrive on Test Servers in April and is one of two PUBG maps set to debut this year. The second one is another 8x8 map with no defined release window.

While footage of Greene's GDC talk is not yet available, it mainly focused on his history as a photographer and gamer and how those roots inspired him to create one of the most popular games in the world. In Greene's real life, he became obsessed with trying to capture candid "watercooler moments." With that idea in mind, he built a game with the tools to create shocking set pieces in organic ways. Having not been a gamer for most of his life, he was fortuitously positioned to design something unique that capitalized on true human emotion outside a virtual space.

As far as this Island map is concerned, though, it offers yet another example of PUBG drawing inspiration from its heated competition with Epic Games' Fortnite. While Fortnite borrows the basic foundation that made PUBG so appealing in the first place, it's found immense success focusing on shorter, faster match cycles. It would seem PUBG Corp hopes to replicate Fortnite's more claustrophobic feel with its own smaller environment.

PUBG is currently experimenting with a new Event Modes feature on its public servers as well. The concept of rotating match types that occur over short periods of time was also popularized by Fortnite. PUBG's limited large-squad mode is active through March 25 at 10 p.m. EDT.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is available now on PC, Xbox One and mobile devices. The Island map only has a release target on PC at this time.

What do you think of PUBG's Island map after seeing these screenshots? Will it make the game faster? Tell us in the comments section!