It’s back here once again this year. PUBG’s April Fools’ Day special event mode! But this year’s has something even more special than before. Even the title feels different already. Bizarre Battle Royale. This bizarre (?) mode has zombies, chicken monsters, and power-ups. Newbies can defeat skilled players and enjoy chicken dinners. Let’s hear the behind-the-scenes story of the system and content planning of this year’s April Fools’ Day mode from the person in charge!
Nice to meet you. Can you briefly introduce yourself?
Hello. I’m Sine Kim from the IGU Contents Design team. I’m in charge of game modes and system planning.
What was your role in the April Fools’ Day mode?
I was in charge of system planning, content planning, and production for the April Fools’ Day mode.
I’m curious about how it got its name, Bizarre Battle Royale.
We named the mode “Bizarre Battle Royale” because it offers a bizarre gaming experience where players can encounter zombies, chicken monsters, and various power-ups all in one mode.
How did the idea for this year’s April Fools’ Day begin? Please tell us how it started and what process you went through to plan and develop it.
Initially, we thought we should create a mode where newbies could have gaming experiences of skilled players if they play it over and over again. We wanted to provide a different type of fun through fast-paced combats without pressure to be cautious, unlike the serious and careful tones of the existing battle royale combats.
It took about three months to develop the mode and with the two months of QA, it took five months in total. Working on AI for zombies and chicken monsters took the longest in the developing process. Especially, we put a lot of efforts into modifying and adding patterns to the zombies and chicken monsters so that players can strategize during PVE (Player Versus Environment) battles.
Also, since this mode combines both PVE and PVP (Player Versus Player) elements, we separated the leveling progress between areas where PVP battles take place and where PVE battles take place. We invested a lot of time in optimizing the game for large-scale battles against numerous zombies.
Could you explain about the concept for this year’s April Fools’ Day mode? We would love to hear directly from you.
The early stage of the game is PVE, where players hunt and farm zombies and chicken monsters. The AI patterns of these monsters have been modified and improved to make the farming process more interesting than before.
Later on in the game, players can use the OP coins they earned from the PVE farming to purchase various OP items. Items that will increase the movement speed or HP. With characters powered up with such items, players can engage in new fast-paced PVP battles.
Also, players have higher HP than in normal matches, and shorter usage time for heal items and energy drinks so even newbies can actively engage in battles!
You can earn the OP coins by ranking high in the battle royale mode or by playing this mode. The OP coins are accumulated and can be used in the next session. So if you play the game repeatedly, it will naturally increase your chances for chicken dinner. Please enjoy yourselves (laughs).
It’s interesting to see that zombies and chicken monsters appear together. I’m curious about the background for the reason.
We thought if two monsters with entirely different vibes appear together, it would fit this year’s April Fools’ Day theme, bizarreness. And we wanted to provide a huge PVE battle that could be played on the existing maps, and we also wanted to apply the same relationship between regular monsters and boss monsters to zombies and chicken monsters. So that’s why we made them appear together.
Can you share with us any memorable moments or reactions from your colleagues during the planning/developing process?
We had a PUBG gosu on our team, and someone who was not as experienced as the gosu in PUBG, who defeated him with the help of the OP items in this mode. That was exactly the situation we intended and we were pleased to see the positive reactions (laughs).
What abilities do the OP items provide? Can you give us a hint?
There are items that boost the play by reducing the shooting recoil, increasing damage to monsters and other players, and increasing the movement speed and max HP. Other items help track enemy positions by marking them on the screen or on the map.
Did you experience any particular difficulties during the planning and development?
We wanted to have as many zombies as possible appear on the server and client to create the bizarre feeling we intended. The optimization work was probably the most difficult part of the job.
What’s the goal of this year’s April Fools’ Day mode?
We want newbies to experience long battles and actively engage in gameplay. Moreover, we want the newbies to have a taste of chicken dinner.
Please share your know-hows for chicken dinner in this mode!
There are many zombies ready to attack you in the big town, which entails high risks. So we recommend that you loot near the town and then move into the town to deal with zombies and loot again. Also, the chicken monster sometimes drop rare invincible items, which serves as a joker card in this Bizarre Battle Royale mode.
Please share your comments for players who will enjoy this mode.
I hope all players, regardless of their skills, can enjoy playing this mode with a good laugh. We always put our hearts into our April Fools’ Day modes to provide unique gaming experience. I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you very much.
April Fools’ Day 2021 Interview
