Ready to feel the sweet sting of being killed by a bunch of campers by the Metro Royale exit again? If you just can’t wait to lose all your hard-earned loot as you attempt to cross the finish line, you’re in luck. PUBG Mobile 1.8 is bringing back Metro Royale for the third (or fourth) time. Honestly, it’s getting tough to keep up with the game’s revolving door of new and returning modes these days. And if you didn’t read all the way to the end of the slightly pessimistic headline before clicking on this article, I’m compelled to make sure that you know Payload is coming back again, which should please the author of the one comment we recently got about its last untimely demise.
If you played PUBG Mobile for any decent length of time before the second half of last year, you’ll have known all about its ever-changing roster of radically different play modes — from zombie survival sims and human-fly homages, to events where famous movie monsters threatened to smush you under their big toes. Back then, it was incredibly unlikely to see your favorite new time-limited mode come back for a second run. But after a big push that just so happened to line up with the launch of a rival game (yes, we noticed), some of PUBG Mobile‘s best modes have started to come back regularly. Of all of these, the most popular seems to be Metro Royale. And it’s coming back so quickly after its last removal that it’s not really clear why it ever went away again at all.
Just like last time, Metro Royale won’t actually return to PUBG Mobile on patch day. We suspect it’s a case of Tencent wanting players to try new content first, which is understandable, but it’s also a bit of a kick in the teeth to those who genuinely just want to play its most inventive and root-respecting all day, every day. If that’s you, you won’t have to wait too much longer. Metro Royale will drop into PUBG Mobile patch 1.8 on January 14. But just like last time, it’s a fleeting visit with no end date given.
Better (or worse) yet, some new unlock requirements have been added to presumably avoid griefing, botting, or being paired up with players who don’t even know how to shoot in a game with no physical buttons. When it returns later in the month, prospective players will need to be at least Account Level 10 and have a social media account tied to their profile. Bugs like the infamous Metro Royale back door glitch have been fixed, and things like the talent and crate buttons occasionally not working should no longer threaten a good run.
In other news, someone over at PUBG Mobile HQ has decreed that Payload 2.0 is deserving of a permanent spot in the alt mode lineup. This explosive take on the standard Battle Royale formula introduced things like helicopters, grenade launchers, and even respawns. It wasn’t good enough at launch to survive without a big 2.0 refresh, but after a couple of tweaks since its last big revival, it looks like it’s here to stay. It’s a good way to blow off steam, that’s for sure.
Disclaimer: Fanbyte is owned by Tencent, which also runs Tencent Games, developer and publisher of PUBG Mobile. Tencent also subsidizes much of Fanbyte’s PUBG Mobile coverage by covering freelancer budget costs. Those covering PUBG Mobile for the site have no contact with Tencent, however, and are given complete creative control to write whatever they wish.
