Battle Royale PUBG Battlegrounds, formerly known as PUBG, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, or Playerunknown's PUBG Battlegrounds Battle Royale Funpalooza, is finally going free-to-play starting next month, although you'll still need to pony up $12.99 to play competitively.

The news was revealed with a new trailer that chronicled the history of the game, before revealing the move to free-to-play on the 12th of January next year. As mentioned though, competitive ranked play will still have a $12.99 entry fee, with something called 'Battlegrounds Plus,' an upgrade to free accounts that also gives players some additional cosmetic items.

If you already own the game, you'll be upgraded to Battlegrounds Plus for free, and you'll also get a commemorative pack of cosmetics, too.

It's been a long-time coming, with the game having a number of week-long free-to-play events this year to test how a move to free-to-play would work out. The game practically invented the Battle Royale genre but has since been overtaken by F2P alternatives like Fortnite, Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone. The OG Royale still holds a strong player count and is clearly looking to regain some lost battleground.