Opening Night Live gave us PUBG: DED.NET, a new game in the PUBG universe. It is not a battle royale: a multiplayer first person shooter with run based roguelite progression, set in 1990s Cascadia. It comes from the American studio PUBG Madison rather than the Korean team, published by KRAFTON.
What the game is
The Steam page promises grunge music, body horror and the occult. The screenshots back that up: candles, skulls, neon, occult symbols stitched onto jackets. Nothing is left of the grey Erangel look.
The core idea is that a lost match is never a wasted run. Whatever you scavenge changes your character and changes how you fight next time. The studio phrase for it is that death is only the beginning.
- A shooter built around runs. Firefights like any multiplayer shooter, but progress carries between runs.
- Dozens of abilities. You are meant to mix and match them into your own approach to combat.
- Tactics on the edge. The official description lists car doors used as riot shields, cannibalising enemies for health, playing dead, and hacking payphones to steal money from rivals.
- You patch yourself up mid run. Injuries are treated during the run so you can outlast the others.
The PC requirements are already published
That is unusual for a game without a release date, but the Steam page already lists them. Here they are in full, nothing dropped.
| Item | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 11 64-bit | Windows 11 64-bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | Intel Core i7-10700 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6600 8 GB | NVIDIA RTX 3060 8 GB, RTX 2070 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8 GB |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
| Storage | 50 GB available space | 50 GB available space |
| Sound | Integrated audio | DirectX compatible device |
| Notes | SSD required | NVMe recommended |
The bar is reasonable. Eight gigabytes of video memory as the minimum is normal for new games by now, but an SSD listed in the minimum row is rarer and hints at streaming assets on the move. Sixteen gigabytes of RAM in both columns reads almost like a gift in 2026.
Release date and what is still unsaid
There is no date. The Steam page simply leaves it out. The game has its own site at ded.net, and the listing marks it as multiplayer, PvP, with full controller support including DualSense. English is the only listed language.
Nothing has been said about consoles, and Steam lists Windows only. The controller support hints at them, but a hint is not a promise. The rest of the show programme, if you want it, we put together in our Opening Night Live piece.
Honestly, I expected another battle royale out of a new PUBG game and got candles, machetes and cannibalism in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. So far this looks like the strangest and the most interesting attempt KRAFTON has made to get off a single franchise.
Sources
The title, genre, description of the mechanics, developer PUBG Madison, publisher KRAFTON, the platform and the system requirements come from the PUBG: DED.NET page on Steam, as of 25 August 2026. The premiere took place at gamescom Opening Night Live on 25 August 2026 and is covered in the GameSpot roundup of announcements. The KRAFTON plan for the show with five games and a shooter set in the PUBG universe was published in June 2026.
