PUBG: DED.NET is designed to feel like PUBG without keeping the familiar rules intact. Creative director Dave Curd describes a faster, more chaotic battle royale built around survival choices, abilities that shape a run across multiple matches, and injuries that make continued progress harder. He calls it a “mutant cousin” to PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, not a smaller copy or direct sequel.
What does DED.NET keep from PUBG?
In an interview published by Indonesian outlet GamerWK on September 1, 2026, Curd framed the design challenge as identifying what makes PUBG feel like PUBG after removing conventions such as the Blue Zone and Level 3 helmet. GamerWK’s Indonesian subheading asks, in translation: “If the Blue Zone and Level 3 helmet are removed, what makes PUBG still PUBG?”
Curd’s answer is less about specific equipment or map rules than the pressure they create: desperate survival, difficult decisions with incomplete information, and stories that emerge from players adapting as events unfold. He described the core as “desperate survival and the law of the jungle,” where smart, adaptable players overcome the odds. That is his design rationale, not a claim that DED.NET reproduces the mechanics of the existing game.
Curd told VGC that the project is intended to reach players who may not connect with the strategic, cerebral pace of traditional PUBG. The goal is a more immediate, interactive experience while retaining the improvisation and survival pressure he sees as central to the series.
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How does a DED.NET run work?
Rather than treating every match as an isolated contest, DED.NET links matches into a longer run. Gamescom coverage reports a design of 60 players in squads of three, competing in a 2.5-kilometer circle. Those figures are developer-reported match details, not independent performance statistics.
Across the run, players develop a character direction and acquire ROMs—chips described as wired into the brain—that unlock abilities. Reported examples include faster reloads and longer dives, alongside more disruptive or fantastical effects. The abilities give players a way to build toward a preferred style, but progression is not a simple accumulation of advantages.
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Abilities come with a price
Matches can leave a character with injuries or ailments that interfere with play. Players have to weigh the benefit of adding an ability against the complications attached to a developing build. They can keep pressing forward to pursue more rewards, or extract what they have before accumulated damage becomes too costly.
A loss does not necessarily end the overall journey immediately. The tension comes from managing a build that may be growing more powerful while also becoming harder to use. Curd’s interviews present that friction as part of the game’s intended chaos, with room for both tactical decisions and awkward, funny outcomes.
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Is DED.NET a battle royale or an extraction shooter?
The available descriptions put it between familiar categories. Curd calls it a heavily altered battle royale, while acknowledging extraction-shooter elements: players are trying to leave with gear and items accumulated during a run. Because that extraction goal sits inside a multi-match progression structure, calling it simply a conventional extraction shooter would overstate the distinction.
The more useful comparison with PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is structural. The established game is organized around the result of an individual match; DED.NET connects matches through character development, ability choices, and the risk of carrying injuries onward. Curd also says the camera perspective, gunplay, and movement differ from classic PUBG. His own shorthand is that the new game should be a “mutant cousin,” not a twin.
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| Design point | PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS | PUBG: DED.NET |
|---|---|---|
| Match structure | Match-centered battle royale. | A run links multiple matches and character progression. |
| Progression | Not described in the cited interviews as a multi-match character build. | ROM abilities shape a build across a run, while injuries can complicate it. |
| Feel and movement | Curd uses classic PUBG as the point of contrast. | Curd says the camera, gunplay, and movement change, with a faster and more interactive aim. |
| Survival decisions | Survival pressure and improvisation are part of the series identity Curd describes. | Survival choices include managing abilities, injuries, and when to extract. |
What platforms and release details have been reported?
Gamemeca’s Gamescom coverage reported console-first development for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It also reported that a PC version was in the pipeline and that upcoming closed tests would focus on consoles first, while the team considered controls and PC optimization. These are reported development plans, not confirmation of final platform availability or current test access. The coverage did not disclose a release date or price.
Those details are a snapshot of what was reported around Gamescom, not a guarantee of the eventual launch plan. The interviews establish Curd’s intended design and the reported development direction; they do not settle a release window, pricing, or final platform lineup.
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Sources
- GamerWK, “[EKSKLUSIF] Wawancara PUBG: DED.NET dengan Dave Curd – Ketika PUBG Dicampur Roguelite,” September 1, 2026
- Gamemeca, “[gamescom 26] PUBG: Deadnet Adds Roguelite Elements, ‘Aiming for High Peak Fun’”
- Video Games Chronicle, “Fumbled weapons, fake ragdolling and Wu-Tang: PUBG DED NET’s director explains how it thrives on chaos,” August 30, 2026
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