PUBG: BLACK BUDGET second closed alpha test announced. KRAFTON has announced that the second PUBG: Black Budget closed alpha playtest is coming soon and access requests are now open. Here's what's new, the dates, how to sign up on Steam, and everything changed since December 2025. Battle Royale Games 8 May 2026 by Mediosick Discover more Video Games Quick facts: KRAFTON has officially announced the second PUBG: Black Budget closed alpha test, a new round of limited PvPvE extraction shooter playtest access. Developed by PUBG Studios and published by KRAFTON, Inc. Speaking of platforms, this game is only available on PC via Steam; there is no console version announced. Exact test dates have not yet been confirmed; KRAFTON says the playtest is "approaching soon." The first alpha had no NDA. NDA status for this second test has not been officially confirmed yet. File Sharing & Hosting KRAFTON announces second closed alpha: On May 8, 2026, KRAFTON confirmed that the next PUBG: Black Budget playtest is approaching, with request access now open for players who want to get in early. For those unfamiliar, "PUBG: Black Budget" is not a battle royale. It is a tactical PvPvE extraction shooter developed by PUBG Studios, which is the team behind the globally dominant PUBG: Battlegrounds. Unlike its parent franchise, Black Budget drops players into a mysterious, time-looping island called "Coli Island," where the objective is to infiltrate, loot classified technology, and extract alive - or lose everything you brought in. The first closed alpha test, conducted in December 2025 across two weekends, drew enormous interest, far exceeding KRAFTON's own expectations. Peak concurrent Steam players hit 8,000 during the first weekend, "Twitch Drop" keys ran out ahead of schedule, and over 1,673 accounts were sanctioned for using unauthorized programs, which was a sign of how seriously the community engaged with the early build. Battle Royale Games Feedback highlighted the game's areas needing work, including combat perception, FPS optimization, and anti-cheat robustness. Following the conclusion of the December alpha's conclusion, KRAFTON ran a smaller, NDA-protected EU-only closed community test in late April 2026, targeting experienced extraction shooter players for structured, scenario-based feedback. That test was explicitly not a casual play session; it was a developer-focused validation exercise. Now, the announcement of this second full Black Budget closed alpha test signals that KRAFTON has incorporated that feedback and is ready for a broader wave of public testing once again. This second test is expected to reflect meaningful improvements over the December 2025 build, particularly around server stability, matchmaking quality, and anti-cheat enforcement - three areas that dominated player feedback after the first run. Shooter Games The next PUBG: Black Budget playtest is approaching and will take place soon. You can request access now." - KRAFTON official announcement, May 8, 2026 Game details, background & production: 1) story: Players take on the role of a Contractor - a hardened veteran recruited for a classified operation on Coli Island, a remote landmass trapped in a supernatural time loop caused by a phenomenon known as the Anomaly. The Anomaly functions similarly to PUBG's classic play circle, shrinking the playable area over time and intensifying encounters. The mission is to uncover the secrets of a covert program called SAPIENS while retrieving black-budget technology scattered across the island's diverse biomes and underground research facilities. The gameplay follows a classic loot-survive-extract structure: deploy onto Coli Island, scavenge weapons, gear, and research samples from both AI-controlled threats and rival human squads, then fight your way to an extraction point before the loop resets. The most important rule is that everything you bring into a raid can be lost permanently if you die. Successful extractions let you keep your loot and reinvest it in your Hideout, which is an upgradeable home base that unlocks better crafting and preparation options between runs. Battle Royale Games 2) mechanisms: The game supports Solo, Duo, and Squad (3-player) play modes, with a maximum of 15 teams (45 players) per match during a 30-minute raid window. Both AI enemies and real players share the same map, creating a layered threat environment that demands constant situational awareness. Gun customization and character progression are key pillars, giving veterans a persistent advantage that new players must work to close. 3) developer & publisher background: PUBG Studios is a direct subsidiary of KRAFTON, Inc., which is the Seoul-based 'South Korean' gaming giant best known for creating the battle royale genre through "PUBG: Battlegrounds" - a title that redefined online multiplayer and continues to average over 500,000+ daily players on Steam alone. Questions for you: * What are your thoughts on PUBG: BLACK BUDGET? * The extraction shooter genre is known for being unforgiving - will you be playing solo or with a squad? * Based on the new 'biomechanical' look, do you think Black Budget is going to be more of a horror game than Mediosick expected? Computer & Video Games Mediosick 8 May 2026 Its posts.

Krafton and KeSPA team up to help grow school esports. 3 min. read * The Korea e-Sports Association and Krafton have put pen to paper on a new three-year deal * The two companies will collaborate to help the growth of school esports * Executives at KeSPA and Krafton share their excitement The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) and Krafton, a leading South Korean video game publisher, announced a new three-year collaboration. At the epicenter of the agreement is the promotion of esports in schools with the ultimate goal of helping esports gain more popularity in South Korea's sports vertical. The two team up to promote the growth of esports in South Korea. Announced on Monday, April 13, 2026, the collaboration between KeSPA and Krafton builds on the duo's long-term successful agreements. Previously, the two companies collaborated for PUBG esports events. However, now, they will unite their forces to promote esports and foster new talent. KeSPA and Krafton will help more students get into esports by offering player development and helping connect amateurs to professional players. The collaboration will not only foster new talent but also help improve the esports ecosystem in schools across the country, promoting the activity's growth. Importantly, the two companies also unite to make esports a normal part of traditional sports in South Korea. Park Soo-yong, Krafton's Head of Esports PUBG division, spoke with excitement about the new collaboration, local media reports revealed. "Based on the 7 years of trust that Battleground and the Association have had together, we are happy to take action to revitalize esports in schools," Soo-yong pointed out. Moreover, the executive said: "We hope that a systematic environment will be created where students can learn a healthy sports spirit through esports and further grow into professional players." Finally, Soo-young said that the two companies' efforts will focus on making the domestic IP, PUBG: Battleground, a normal part of the international esports scene. Kim Cheol-hak, KeSPA's Secretary General, was similarly excited. "This agreement will represent a turning point for domestic esports sports to secure unrivaled status within the domestic and international institutional sports system," he said. Moreover, Cheol-hak outlined that the landmark collaboration between KeSPA and Krafton will serve as the foundation for player growth and talent acquisition. Finally, the executive acknowledged that the effort is expected to help with player development, enabling amateur players to grow reaching the national team. 14 Apr 2026 3 min. read

Epic is making a Disney extraction shooter in the battle to win back young men, report says. Epic Games is developing a new extraction shooter for Disney and plans to launch it in November, according to a new report from Bloomberg. It will be the first game released as part of Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic, which is best known for Fortnite and the Unreal Engine. According to Bloomberg, the extraction shooter is similar in style to Embark Studios' hit Arc Raiders, but will feature Disney characters. It's unclear whether the characters will be unique to the game or as diverse as the Disney-owned characters in Fortnite, which spans properties like Star Wars, Marvel, and Toy Story. Epic has brought dozens of Disney characters to Fortnite over the past eight years, including recent additions like Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Epic's Disney extraction shooter is said to be "not very original," according to sources cited by Bloomberg, but employees are "optimistic that Epic will get it right by the launch date." Fortnite itself was not very original; the game's dominant battle royale mode was released as a direct competitor to (or blatant copy of) Krafton's PUBG Battlegrounds (née PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds), which helped popularize the battle royale genre. Disney getting into the extraction shooter business comes after reports claimed the entertainment giant aims to appeal to Gen Z men with new, original movies. As established brands like Star Wars and Marvel's superhero fare struggle to hit the highs of yesteryear, Disney is pushing creators to focus on products that appeal to younger male consumers - specifically the ones that play video games. Even with Epic's reach and track record with Fortnite, a new extraction shooter is not a guaranteed hit. Embark found unexpected success with Arc Raiders, but whatever Epic and Disney are working on will face intense competition from new entries this year, including Bungie's Marathon, Krafton's PUBG: Black Budget, and Deep Worlds' Beautiful Light. Some developers are wisely steering clear of the increasingly crowded PvPvE space. Epic's deal with Disney will reportedly include at least two more games. In 2024, the companies announced plans to create an "all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences." In March, Epic Games made headlines after it announced plans to lay off more than 1,000 employees in the face of soaring Fortnite development costs. The company also had another major Disney-related announcement, letting content creators who make custom Fortnite game experiences have access to a trove of Star Wars assets. The two companies will 'collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe'