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Microsoft giving away PUBG game to lure you to buy Xbox One X

More than a million people are playing the viral gaming hit PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on the game console, and a promotion could attract more.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland
More than 1 million people tried PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG for short, on Microsoft's Xbox One in its first 48 hours of availability.

More than 1 million people tried PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG for short, on Microsoft's Xbox One in its first 48 hours of availability.

Xbox

A million people already started playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on Microsoft's Xbox One game console, but a few more could enter the fray thanks to a Microsoft holiday promotion.

From Dec. 17 to Dec. 31, Microsoft will throw in a free copy of of PUBG with every Xbox One X purchase, Microsoft said Friday. The viral-hit game, which arrived Tuesday on Xbox One, ordinarily costs $30, while the Xbox One X console costs $500. Be warned, though: the promotion is available only "in select regions," and the company said you'll have to check with retailers to see if you can get the deal.

In the first 48 hours since the game arrived on Microsoft's Xbox One game console, more than a million people have played it, Microsoft also said. That may sound like a lot, but on PC, already 20 million copies have sold. On Friday, 2.8 million people were playing simultaneously, according to Valve Software's Steam gaming platform statistics.

In PUBG, you and up to 99 other players drop into a virtual world where you have to find weapons, including frying pans, to survive. The last player standing wins. If you're thinking about playing on Xbox, be sure to check this list of five things you should know about PUBX on Xbox One from my colleague Sean Hollister.