Playerunknown's Battlegrounds' shift to a free-to-play business model apparently has nothing to do with other battle royale hits using that business model.

That's according to PUBG Studios creative director Dave Curd, who told GamesRadar that the reason that the firm had decided to change the title's business model was simply a matter of timing.

"We came to the decision to make PUBG: Battlegrounds free to play because we feel that it is truly the right time," said Curd. "Our game is in a great place with eight maps, an engaged community and our deep gun mechanics, so this is the natural next step and a great way to introduce more players to our universe. I know there are a lot of people who are interested in PUBG: Battlegrounds but have never gotten around to playing it for various reasons - now is the perfect moment to get started."

He continued: "This is in no way a response to the other titles you've mentioned. They're all great games which specialise in their own unique strengths, just as we do. We develop our game independently of others and are excited to see what is to come."

Furthermore, Curd reckons that PUBG going free-to-play might open up new development opportunities that were not possible when the battle royale behemoth was a premium title.

"We can invite more people to the party and that means we'll see developments that we may not have witnessed with the previous pay-to-play model," he said.

"In terms of developing and evolving, we will continue to do what we've always done: innovate, create new experiences, and grow the PUBG universe."

At the end of 2020, Korean parent company Krafton rebranded PUBG Corp to PUBG Studios. As of July of that year, the game has sold more than 70 million copies.