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PUBG remains one of Steam’s most-played games, which makes it all the more surprising that PUBG Studios and publisher Krafton haven’t made more attempts to milk it over the years. PUBG: DED NET might be the biggest yank of the udder to date though, revealing an entirely new spin-off roguelite FPS set in the ’90s. And if you didn’t know the game was set in the ’90s, you sure will after the game’s trailer beats you over the head with period-accurate vibes.
Creative director Dave Curd helpfully informs me that the “DED” in DED NET stands for “dog eat dog,” which makes the words emblazoned across one of the miniguns in the trailer make a whole lot more sense. I’ve sat down with Curd in the hours after the game’s reveal at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, where he tells me a little bit more about what players can expect from DED NET.
Curd says DED NET is going to be “unhinged” and “unfiltered” with the promise of tons of build variety that’ll unfurl the more matches you play. “Every run starts different, and you’ll always have something in mind. Maybe this run I want to be the very close quartered, door kicker, riot shield guy. Maybe this run I want to be more of a trickster or prankster, and I’m going to hack payphones and play dead, and maybe indulge in a little bit of light cannibalism. But between each match, you’re always kind of going with the flow of the game over the multi-match journey.”
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It’s not just guns and trickery that’ll pave the way to victory. There’s also, y’know, sword hands. “One of the themes is sacrificing flesh for power,” Curd tells me. “So losing the ability to manipulate guns or even drive. You can jump in the passenger seat, but you can’t drive the car anymore when you’ve got the blade hands. But you’re absolutely hellacious in melee distance.”
Curd says it’s “just one of the 70-plus abilities and changes” that you’ll be able to tinker around with in DED NET, with its roguelite elements meaning “the more you play, the more control, the more engagement, the more connection you have with your journey.”
As for why DED NET isn’t just a mode in the OG PUBG: Battlegrounds? “The two things that made this deserve to be its own thing are the pace and persistence. Our map is smaller, it’s denser, it’s more intense. The movement, the player behaviours and player mechanics are more aggressive and athletic. PUBG is deliberate and thoughtful and tactical. This is not that. The tactics are there in terms of your build crafting and theorycrafting … if I’m a PUBG fan booting this up for the first time it’s going to be faster, meaner, and more aggressive than I’m used to.”
All of this is to the backdrop of some intensely ’90s vibes, which Curd tells me was a hugely formative era for him. “It’s such an interesting historical tension point,” he said. “One foot in the analogue world, one foot in the digital world. You didn’t have a cell phone on you at all times. You had to use payphones. The guns were cool. Live-streamed music was finally happening. You also saw the birth of really exploitative reality TV and blood sport like EWC or UFC cage fighting.”
Taking that grungey, lesser-connected time and bringing it to life in DED NET doesn’t just stop at its visuals—it’s bringing music from that era to the forefront as well. “We have very fleshed out grunge and hip-hop stations,” Curd tells me. “You’ll hear stuff from Toadies, Nine Inch Nails, Local H. We have Biggie [Smalls], we have Ice Cube. It’s a really fun soundtrack.”
Curd’s enthusiasm for DED NET isn’t to be underestimated. Though for those of us without a peek behind the curtain right now and only a cinematic trailer to go off, a double dip into the PUBG universe might be a harder sell for those who are still deeply attached to the original.
If the idea of a chaotic all-American ’90s gunfest has got you all giddy though, you can register for a chance to hit up PUBG: DED NET’s closed beta test which should be arriving some time in the near future.
