PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS will be giving its community a trip down memory land with its upcoming Erangel Classic event. For a limited time, PUBG will be reintroducing the old elements from the early days of the battle royal gamee, including Erangel's original map layout, nostalgic gunplay, and the return of classic skins and weapons.

Erangel has gone through an evolution throughout the years, in its look and feel, but it holds a special place for many fans as it was the first battleground in rotation for PUBG. In a recent interview with Game ZXC, PUBG production director Taehyun Kim talked about nostalgia played into the limited-time event and how the classic bugs almost made it back - or at least were considered as additions.

The 'Most Representative Elements' of Erangel Are Back

Erangel Classic_Starting Island

PUBG Studios is expected to release full patch notes on May 13—a day before the event officially begins—to fully detail all the map changes, which will replace the current Erangel. While PUBG currently uses foggy and rainy weather in its seasonal changes, there was a distinct atmosphere to its early days: a foreign feeling to an unknown map, stalking enemies before making a move—then dying with no kill cam, unsure of where the shots came from—and a dreary environment to blend it all together. That feeling, or at least a replicated feeling, will return in Erangel Classic.

Players can again start each match by snatching their favorite weapons from the wooden tables on the starting island, and among the world spawn, the Helmet (Lv. 3) and classic skins will be up for grabs. Kim described the helmet and classic skins as "the most representative elements" of the old PUBG and Erangel. Fans and casuals know the helmet; it's the Spetsnaz Helmet that covers just enough of the face with a narrow, rectangle visor. Additionally, the Tommy Gun will be removed from world spawn and only be available in Care Package.

As the helmet is PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS’ iconic item, players can hopefully have a bigger excitement when looting it.

... Although the Tommy Gun wasn’t favored by many due to its relatively low performance compared to other Care Package weapons, we think it’s a meaningful change that players can meet this nostalgic weapon again this way.

The Bugs And Glitches Won't Be Back

Erangel Classic_World(2)

Kim told Game ZXC that the players' demands and nostalgia were the "catalysts" for the development team's decision to bring back the old PUBG. While the UI and gunplay balance weren't completely reverted to the early days' mechanics, it was still designed to replicate these aspects. Of course, many likely remember the various bugs and glitches in the early days of PUBG, and the team thought about bringing them back because players were still able to overlook these flaws and enjoy PUBG in its early days. Even if that meant a floating player rolling by—because the game didn't recognize they were driving in a car—or randomly falling through the different layers of the map. Kim said the development team thought about bringing the bugs back and explained why they didn't.

Among these, the most nostalgic for the dev team were the frequent bugs from the old Erangel map.

We think some players might expect to exploit those bugs in Erangel Classic. In the current Erangel, however, most of the bugs were already fixed, so we had to consider a lot of things to decide whether to bring those bugs back. Eventually, we decided to provide Erangel Classic with the bugs fixed.

We understand some of you may be disappointed, but please keep those bugs just as a memory.

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS' Erangel Classic Event will be available on PC from May 14 to May 28 and from May 23 to June 6 on console.