PUBG dev reveals next new project will be a fantasy game based upon Korean novel The Bird That Drinks Tears

PUBG Battlegrounds developer Krafton has announced its "begun active development" on a new project based upon the Korean fantasy novel, The Bird That Drinks Tears.

A novel series created and written by Yeong-do Lee, The Bird That Drinks Tears game will be "a whole new experience" based upon Lee's "elaborate worlds" and "complex characters".

"This ambitious project aims to bring the original fantasy universe of The Bird That Drinks Tears to life through its unique and refreshing fantasy races, beautiful, haunting landscapes, and gripping, immersive, and poignant stories," Krafton explains on the game's newly-launched website. 

In order that the game "delivers the best experience possible", Krafton says it is now "aggressively recruiting the world’s top development talent to help create the game" and join "Hollywood talent and concept artist", Iain McCaig, who has previously worked on Star Wars and The Avengers.

"The Bird that Drinks Tears is unlike any other fantasy story I have read, with fresh new ways of exploring human nature," McCaig explained. "That’s what attracts me most. It’s an epic on a par with The Lord of the Rings or Dune. The fantasy world is fresh and visceral, mingling traditional archetypes with dream and nightmare images that are wholly original. 

"I was working on my own projects at the time; engaging with this meant putting them all aside. It needed to be something incredibly special for me to do that. As it turns out, it was."

Krafton also recently revealed it's teaming up with Ubisoft for a new Assassin's Creed-themed crossover in PUBG Battlegrounds later this month.

Deemed "a multi-game collaboration that will bring the world of Assassin’s Creed to both PUBG: Battlegrounds and New State Mobile this August" - which means the content is coming to both the PC/console version and the mobile iteration - players "will have the chance to acquire Assassin’s Creed-themed in-game items, see Abstergo Industries introduced to the world of PUBG: Battlegrounds, and participate in a series of exclusive events to earn Assassin’s Creed-themed crate tickets".

The PUBG: Battlegrounds event will kick off with Assassin's Creed-themed cosmetics, events, and "world elements" on August 17 and run until September 22. The event on New State Mobile runs at a slightly different time - August 18 until September 21 - and offers "over 30 unique Assassin's Creed-themed costumes".

Did you know that The Callisto Protocol was ultimately separated from the PUBG universe because the team at developer Striking Distance felt the connection had become "disingenuous"? 

PUBG: Battlegrounds may be free-to-play but it hasn't gotten any easier to play for newcomers.