PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Xbox bundle landing soon

If you've read anything about gaming over the past six months, chances are you will have heard of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the word-of-mouth hit of 2017. The concept is simple; you fly over an island with 99 other players. You parachute from the plane, start hunting for items and weapons, and then just try to outlast your opponents, all while a force field gradually restricts the playing area and forces you into close combat with other players.

The game has broken all sorts of records, including boasting more than three million concurrent players at some stages. Having been originally available just on PC, December brought with it the phenomenon's console debut on Xbox One. A timed-console exclusive, there's still not been any word on when the game might see the light of day on PS4.

Today brings the news that Microsoft are aiming to double down on the exclusivity they currently enjoy on Battlegrounds with a bundle. The bundle comes with a standard 1tb One S, and not much else, and has an RRP of £249.99. Surprisingly, there's apparently no included Xbox Live Gold Membership - required to play online - beyond the standard 14-day trial option which comes with all consoles. Other recent bundles, such as the one with (the also predominantly online) Rocket League, have come with a free 3 month subscription to the service.

The arrival of the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds bundle is not at all surprising, with it being one of the few major games that Microsoft have that Sony don't. In fact, it was a little surprising that we didn't see a bundle launch at the same time as the game itself, during the peak Holiday shopping period. The reason for this was PUBG still technically being in early access (called 'Xbox Game Preview' on the Xbox).

Though there's not been any confirmation of the bundle - which is released on February 20th - coinciding with the game leaving early access, it does at least suggest that Microsoft are satisfied the game will be in a respectable state at that stage. The Xbox version of PUBG is around 6 months behind the development of the PC version, which left early access in late December.