Vikendi Reborn has been playable in PUBG: Battlegrounds since December 6, 2022. But have you ever wondered why the map received such an extensive rework? After all, Erangel and Miramar are much older, but have not been reborn with new features. I got to the bottom of this question and many others. These were answered by PUBG’s Production Director Taehyun Kim. He has been with us since 2016 and is responsible for the development of the maps.
Why do you think Vikendi in particular needed a rebirth? After all, the cold island is not your oldest map.
Taehyun Kim: 2 years ago we removed part of the snow with the update of Vikendi Remastered. The change didn’t sit well with players, and we too felt that Vikendi had lost its unique charm. To restore Vikendi’s special character, we’ve added lots of snow again and created a fun environment. Cloud shadows and other functions also prevent eye fatigue.
What has changed with the overhaul of the map? What new features have you implemented?
Taehyun Kim: The new Vikendi brings blizzard zones, towers with climbing ropes, a night mode, cable cars, trains, snowmobiles and many other new features. We’ve focused on the elements that can maximize gameplay. We did a lot of testing during the development phase.
Were there any particular sources of inspiration for the design of the rework?
Taehyun Kim: East of the glacier area is the observatory, whose design concept was inspired by Antarctic research stations.
How did you ensure that the spirit of the old Vikendi map stays alive? Have some points of interest remained?
Taehyun Kim: We have mainly focused on bringing back the snowy environment that was considered most meaningful by the fans in old Vikendi. We also wanted to keep the identity of the map including its representative POIs and features and bring back some old locations like the launch pad and the frozen river and vehicles like the snowmobile.
What was the most important thing you wanted to achieve with the redesign?
Taehyun Kim: Our goal was to ensure that players can reminisce about old Vikendi and enjoy the gameplay they used to have. To achieve this, we applied the know-how we learned developing 8×8 cards like Taego and Deston to Vikendi.
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Were there any issues or challenges in the development process that you had to overcome?
Taehyun Kim: We put a lot of thought into how to successfully rework an existing map. It was much more difficult for us to incorporate player feedback while keeping the core concept and elements of the old Vikendi than simply building a new map from scratch.
How will gameplay on Vikendi Reborn change in the future? What are your predictions?
Taehyun Kim: The features and elements that we have prepared are not yet fully released, which means that the gameplay will change after each update. I hope our fans are as excited for the upcoming updates as we are.
