What was PUBG: Battlegrounds originally titled?

PUBG: Battlegrounds was originally titled PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The longer name refers to Brendan Greene, whose online alias was “PlayerUnknown.”

Greene became known for creating battle royale modifications for other games, including ARMA 2 and H1Z1. When Bluehole worked with him on a standalone title, his alias was placed directly in the name, following a tradition of associating creator names with game series and projects.

The title was commonly shortened to PUBG, an acronym for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. In 2021, the game’s branding shifted to PUBG: Battlegrounds, which made the product easier to distinguish within the expanding PUBG franchise. The rebranding also removed Greene’s alias from the displayed title, although PUBG remains the familiar abbreviation.

A common mix-up is treating PUBG Mobile as the original game’s original title. PUBG Mobile is a later mobile adaptation, released in 2018; the standalone PC and console game first carried the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds name.