PUBG Labs new Zombie Survival mode pits players against AI undead

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is giving Call of Duty Zombies a run for its money.

Zombie Survival is the newest free game mode from PUBG Labs. Players team up to fend off hordes of undead while earning money to upgrade their zombie-killing loadout. The bonus minigame was released as part of the PUBG 13.1 update. The mode takes several queues from Call of Duty’s long-standing zombies mode and creates a similar experience on the PUBG training map. The latest PUBG Labs is the most ambitious experimental game mode yet and is only available until August 16.

This isn’t the first time PUBG Corporation has converted its battle royale into a zombie shooter. A previous PUBG Labs was centered around surviving waves of incoming zombies. Another custom mode lets one squad take on a whole lobby of ghouls. The new zombie survival mode sets itself apart by introducing a whole new economic element to juggle.

By surviving waves and taking out zombies, players earn coins that they can spend between rounds. Guns, gear, and ammunition are all only available from the store, and players respawn with only the base amount of cash. Special zombies will begin to appear in later stages, so machine guns, snipers, and shotguns all get their time in the spotlight.

The ultimate goal is to survive the not-so-endless zombie onslaught. The size of the horde escalates with later waves but players get a chance to respawn between hordes. Survivors can either kill every zombie that spawns or simply survive past the three-minute time limit to win the roundd. Zombie Survival ends after ten waves or if all survivors get taken out.

PUBG Labs is a creative outlet for the developers at PUBG Corporation. The revolving minigame serves as a fun bonus mode and a method of testing potential battle royale changes. Previous PUBG Labs events include a soccer mode featuring Korean soccer star “Sonny” Heung-Min Son, a hardcore ruleset called Bluehole Mode, and vehicle testing grounds. At the very least, Zombie Survival can serve as a fun way to practice your aim for battle royale mode.