[PUBG] Is adding Weapons Skins a good thing or bad thing?

Rob "NualphaJPN" B.

The FPS genre has always been a very popular one for many gamers since it provides an outlet for one to release any tension, etc. Over the years it’s also allowed players to be a bit more creative with their loadouts before engaging in battle, one of those things being able to customize their weapons. While customization of items has been around for years in the gaming world, only recently has it really taken off with games like CS:GO and even Overwatch. So now with the hype turning its attention towards that of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds it begs the question of whether adding weapon skins to PUBG is a good thing or a bad thing down the road. We’ve seen the positive side effects of what weapon skin purchases can do but on the other end of the scale, it brings about some questionable practices that could create some unwanted attention. Let’s dive deeper into this question.

At the moment, PUBG allows players to purchase items via the character tab, using battle points you’ve acquired through playing online. This in game purchase doesn’t require any use of real money which is great because it encourages players to focus more on playing the game, rather than going on a spending spree to buy items. Another benefit is that none of these items buff or alter your character in any way and are pretty much used for cosmetic purposes, which is a great thing. So by adding weapon skins into the mix and using the same principle already implemented in PUBG via battle points, players can then save up their points and then pick up crates to then further customize their favorite weapons. You do have the option of course to purchase crates via Steam as well but therein lies the problem that we’ll get into later.

So we’ve heard of Valve’s issue relating to skin betting, an approach players use to bet on skins using real money which in turn could evolve into something risky. Now of course, the folks at PUBG Corp. have perhaps already taken note of the negative side effects of implementing weapon skin betting so this may not even see the light of day. However there are players out there who will try to find workarounds in order to take advantage of the situation, and create headaches for everyone else. This is just one little thing that could raise some eyebrows should PUBG plan on doing some sort of weapons skin purchasing via Steam, since it could potentially escalate into something similar to CS:GO.