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When it comes to the Battle Royale genre, the most popular ones at the moment are PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. If you’ve played both games on different platforms, there’s a chance you have a preference for one out of the two.
Although PUBG and Fortnite both share similar elements, they are quite different as these two games have features that clearly distinguish one from the other. I started playing both right around the same time, but I found myself leaning more towards PUBG despite having Fortnite installed on more platforms (macOS, iOS, PS4).
Graphics
If you’re all for games that look hyper-realistic, PUBG is what you need to stick with. The developers paid attention to every detail, giving you that combat feel. From my personal experience, this makes the game a lot immersive than Fortnite. Even the mobile version of the game on the iPad Pro has stunning graphics when the graphics settings are maxed out.
Fortnite too, on the other hand, looks good even though it looks rather cartoonish and a lot more colorful. It’s a departure from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds realistic feel. This all boils down to personal preference, but for me, I prefer how PUBG looks. I like the realistic feel and dig the overall graphics quality.
Gameplay
Just like classic Battle Royale games, both make all 100 players start with nothing at the beginning, giving everyone a level playground. You have to look for guns, ammunition, clothes and medical supplies. There’s no unfair advantage given to anyone. The map shrinks to make to make the game even more competitive as the number of players reduce.
Both Fortnite and PUBG let you play solo, duo or as a squad of four people, but that’s where the similarities seem to end. These games feel totally different in gameplay.
From my experience, PUBG is very intense; it’s a rather tense game that gets your blood pumping if you try to make it to the last ten players left and you’re trying not to get killed. Fortnite is more or less casual, but it’s fun in its own way too. One thing that sets it apart from PUBG is the construction and destruction aspect of it. You can pick up items to build your own kind of fortress, something not possible in PUBG.
If you’re a fan of hardcore shooter games like COD, there’s a chance you’re going to pick PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds over Fortnite because of the robust weapons selection. Weapons are straight from the real world. Winning requires knowing the right guns to get, the best attachments to use, the right scope to fit, the best armor to get, and more.
As expected of a casual game you’re supposed to have fun playing, Fortnite weapons are custom-designed, and there are no weapon attachments. Despite this, the learning curve is a lot steeper than PUBG. It took me longer to win my first match.
Things can get hilarious though. Thanos recently showed up on Fortnite. There’s a boogie bomb that makes victims dance hilariously while you watch, get entertained and put a bullet in their heads. It also feels more fast-paced than PUBG.
In the end, whichever you prefer depends on what you look out for in games and the kind of player you are.
Maps
The larger maps in PUBG sort of extend the play time. The maps are very large, but you have vehicles to move around if the need arises. The two playable maps on PUBG (Erangel and Miramar) measure at 8km x 8km. Two more smaller 4×4 maps are in the works and should be ready before the end of the year. Fortnite, on the other hand, has a much smaller map. This is why the game is fast-paced as weak and unlucky players get eliminated real quick.
While you can switch maps in PUBG, Fortnite has just a single map (for now). However, Epic Games is always improving its existing map, building on it every now and then. Although faster updates seem to bring more features to improve the game, a section of players might find the single map boring after a while.
Game Modes
As expected of them, PUBG and Fornite share similar game modes. On both games, you can play a solo game of one against 99 other players, a duo mode consisting of 50 teams of two players each, or a squad mode of 4 players against 25 other teams.
Apart from these, each game has it’s own custom game modes. Fortnite has lots of temporary game mode that get added and removed every now and then. You can play a game of 50 against 50, five teams of 20, a snipers-only mode, and an explosives-only mode. And if you love to build, Fortnite has a special blitz mode.
PUBG has a War mode that feels more like conventional deathmatches. There’s also an interesting Zombie mode. Unlike Fortnite, it lets you play in first person and third person perspectives. There are several other temporary event modes. The mobile version has a shorter Arcade mode that starts with a shrunk map and about 28 players.
It should be noted that not all these modes are available on the mobile versions of these games.
Platforms
At the moment, Fortnite is available on more platforms than PUBG. There are Fortnite versions for Windows, macOS, Xbox 360, PS4, and iOS, leaving out only Android OS. PUBG is currently available for Windows, Xbox One, iOS, and Android, leaving out PS4 and macOS. However, this could change anytime soon as both games expand to all major platforms.
Pricing
Fortnite is free-to-play on all platforms if you just want to get into the Battle Royale action and duke it out with 99 other players. This could be the reason it has more players than PUBG, coupled with the fact that it’s available on more platforms. Just like PUBG, you don’t need to pay to win. Microtransactions are only for cosmetics, not for gameplay or weapon enhancements or any form of unfair advantages.
Although it’s free to play on Android and iOS, PUBG costs $29.99 on Steam.
Conclusion
I personally prefer playing PUBG over Fortnite, but that’s not to say Fortnite is the worse game. Both appeal to different users and as mentioned earlier, whichever you prefer depends on the kind of player you are and your personal preference. If you prefer the graphic details PUBG offers, it’s larger maps and longer play time, you should stick with it. However, if you are a casual player that doesn’t mind the cartoonish look of Fortnite, its smaller map, and fast-paced gameplay, PUBG won’t offer that.