The way it used to work with video games was that they were self-contained worlds. A war game was a war game; a fantasy game was a fantasy game. But in the age of the “Metaverse,” those lines are increasingly blurring into a delightful mess. PUBG Mobile, the battle-royale behemoth of a game, has just released its Version 3.8 update — and it’s introducing ‘Attack on Titan’ anime’s terrifying giants to PUBG: Mobile’s tactical shooter.
The Clash of Genres
For those unfamiliar, PUBG is a multiplayer battle royale game that emphasizes realism—ballistics, recoil management, and tactical placement. ‘Attack on Titan,’ meanwhile, is a show about people who use gas-powered grappling hooks to fight man-eating giants. The combination of the two is absurd as far as that goes, but in a way that makes it perfect.
The new theme, ‘Roar of Steam,’ gives the map a complete makeover. Characters don’t just wear cosmetic skins and look different; the gameplay mechanics are fundamentally changed. Players will now be able to acquire and equip the ODM (Omni-Directional Mobility) gear. This shifts the movement from “boots on the ground” to “acrobats in the sky.”
Mastering the Mechanics
Imagine you are playing a regular paintball game when suddenly three people fly to a vengeful death. This is the shake-up this update introduces. You can use the ODM gear to shoot onto buildings, trees, or any terrain to blast yourself into the air and escape gunfire or flank enemies.
It adds verticality to a game that tends to be horizontal. If you are ducking behind a rock, it’s no longer safe to just peek left and right with your flank positions. Now, you’ll be looking up, because an enemy could swing overhead with dual blades. This lifts the skill ceiling. Experienced players who master this movement will destroy those who opt for traditional running-and-gunning.
The Business of Collabs
Why does PUBG do this? It’s the economics of attention. Games as a Service (GaaS) must continually reinvent themselves to prevent gamers from ever feeling bored. By tapping into Attack on Titan’s huge fanbase, PUBG Mobile reactivates dormant players who really like anime and retains daily active users with fresh content. It’s a digital event, like the circus coming to town.
Technical Performance
From a tech standpoint, having high-speed aerial movement is rough on the game engine. The devs need to maintain a fair balance so that players swinging through the air at 60mph don’t experience rubberbanding. In other words, where players are and what they’re doing shouldn’t differ across clients, even when they’re separated by long distances. Early reports indicate the update is stable. However, it puts more strain on the graphics processor of older phones due to the new particle effects and how giant Titan models are rendered.
