Who’s the Best PUBG Player in the World? A Look at the Top Contenders

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In recent years, PUBG eSports viewership has declined, but numbers in 2024 show that it’s rising; yet, it’s far from the initial boom in 2018.
• “Pio”, one of the greatest PUBG players in history, has been a free agent since this January.
• Five of the 10 players from our list will vie for the title with their teams at the most significant PUGB eSports tournament of the year—the PUBG Global Championship 2024 (PGC 2024).

Photo: Cho “seoul” Gi-yeol (screenshot youtube.com/@PUBGEsports)
When establishing the list before you, we took into account the results in the one year, i.e., from the prior year until the current year thus far. Given that local and regional competition may differ, we wanted to highlight talent from a variety of geographical areas. Below is a list of the current top 10 players. You’re allowed to agree or disagree, but we think we gathered all the necessary data and variables…

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# 10 Matt Smith

“Kickstart” continues to be a success in both Americas due to its exceptional talent and fragging prowess. In an unofficial trade that included himself and “M1ME” he transferred from Luminosity Gaming to Soniqs towards the end of the previous season. “M1ME” went the opposite direction.

Although everyone had high hopes for the Soniqs roster at PGC 2023, “Kickstart” and “TGLTN” (who’s also on this list) failed to deliver the much-needed victory to the United States team. However, they redeemed themselves by taking home the title at the first-ever Esports World Cup (EWC 2024) this summer. His prior performance is what qualifies him for the list, not his current form. Several other players could compete for this position on our list, such as “Snakers” and many more.

# 9 Ivan Kapustin

As for his play in 2024, “ubah” deserved to find his name on the list. In four months, the Russian player, who insists on being signed as “countryless” when competing, switched teams twice in four months: once for a brief stay with Exalt for PGC, and then with the Gaimin Gladiators, where he was reunited with his NAVI championship roster.

One of the game’s most legendary pros, “ubah” now has the opportunity to recapture all the honors under a different logo, but things aren’t going well in terms of major titles both for him and his new organization. The last notable event where Kapustin was victorious was PUBG Global Championship 2022, and he did so with NAVI.

# 8 Cha Seung-hoon

“Pio” is on the list during what might be his last year competing. He’s without a club as of the moment of this writing since his previous Gen.G. roster disbanded in January. Yes, one of the greatest PUBG players in history and one of the most talented solo lurkers is a free agent right now.

Since the Korean is currently not ready to return from retirement, we have him on the list in the hopes that this legend will make a spectacular return soon.

# 7 James Giezen

“TGLTN” is a must for any top PUBG player list. The Australian is among the top PUBG streamers right now and is possibly the most gifted player in the whole professional scene. However, we never get to witness him completely display his skills in the eSports arena. Soniqs are cursed with a positional and rotational circle that they are unable to overcome, and “TGLTN” seems to be the victim of that. However, everything improved when Soniqs won EWC 2024.

To prove to everyone that he can win the season MVP award and get to the top of these rankings, we give Giezen the full 2024 campaign.

# 6 Deng Ruilong

With NewHappy, “LongSkr” hoped to make a big splash in 2024. After leaving Tianba in December 2023, he gave his all to demonstrate his skills in a different setting and repeat successes achieved with Infantry.

The most underappreciated player in the whole Chinese PUBG scene is precisely “LongSkr”. Luckily, he excelled this season and proved why he is ranked higher than other PUBG legends on our list. With NewHappy, he won the PUBG Champions League 2024: Spring.

# 5 Artem Adarkin

At the conclusion of the previous season, “xmpl” left Natus Vincere and replaced “spyrro” to begin 2024 with Twisted Minds. The new TM superstack is now a who’s who of game awareness and technical skill.

With Twisted Minds dominating in Europe and possibly overseas, it’s clear that the Russian player thrives in his new setting: the Saudi Arabian team, with Adarkin on the roster, achieved a hat-trick of PUBG Global Series in 2024, winning Series 4, 5, and 6, and is the biggest favorite by odds of online bookies for top offshore sports betting to win the upcoming PUBG Global Championship 2024 (PGC 2024).

# 4 Alexandr Pirogov

On our list, “alya” came in just ahead of his former teammates. Another Russian PUBG player who no longer wants to have his native country’s flag beside his name when presented has contributed to NAVI’s success between 2021 and 2023, including the title at the PUBG Global Championship 2022, and was the x-factor in the majority of his team’s battles.

Pigorov joined the new Gaimin Gladiators super-team alongside “ubah” and “Mellman” in an attempt to recapture the 2022 championship that these three earned. However, his tenure at GG ended after only two months—from January to March of this year.

# 3 Zuo Zixuan

These days, “Aixleft” consistently appears in numerous ranks as one of the best choices. The Chinese has won multiple MVP honors and plaudits and has been a key contributor to Petrichor Road’s success over the last three seasons, especially on a regional level where the team won PUBG Continental Series 4, 5, and 6.

“Aixleft” is the player you want if you need someone who can play full rush, two-two split, or solo. He’ll undoubtedly be the one to pose a serious threat to the next two names on our list.

# 2 Na Hee-joo

“Inonix” only needed to go to a roster where he could thrive in order to become a PUBG champion. Danawa e-sports took center stage in the 2023 season, emerging as the leading team in Korea, the clear favorite in both PGS competitions and the eventual PGC champions.

Although the Danawa roster is currently in ruins, the organization decided to use “Inonix” and “Loki” as the two players to create the new Danawa-backed team, Danawa ATTACK ZERO (A0). Seldom did anyone in the KR scene receive such a genuine vote of confidence this year like Na.

# 1 Cho Gi-yeol

At the top of our list is the dual MVP of the PUBG Nations Cup 2023 and PGC 2023. “seoul” had an incredible season and played a key role in helping his national team and Danawa e-sports win their first championships. It’s difficult to describe the quality of the Korean player after seeing so many of his highlights from the previous season.

He joined Dplus at the beginning of 2024, and by the end of the year, he had hoped to win another trophy. It was in vain, except from taking the first place at the PUBG Nations Cup 2024 with Korea. Nevertheless, “seoul” is by far the greatest player in PUBG at the moment.

Many Entries on Our List Will Be Vying for MVP Honors at the PGC 2024

Domestic tournaments were thrilling to watch in the past year because all four regions have a wealth of talent that excels in many different areas. Additionally, all teams—including those featuring players on this list—delivered fantastic entertainment when international events took place. This year was undoubtedly one to remember.

The PUBG Global Championship 2024 (PGC 2024) is, of course, the competition that’s now the center of attention, rounding up an exciting season for PlayerUnknown’s Battleground. You don’t want to miss this event, so be sure to stay connected. There, “Kickstart”, “TGLTN” (both in Soniqs), “LongSkr” (NewHappy), “xmpl” (Twisted Minds), and “Aixleft” (Petrichor Road) will compete for MVP awards and the title of world’s finest team with their teams.

Pros and Cons of PUBG as eSports: How Big Is It?

One of the first games in the genre to genuinely take over Steam and Twitch was PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and community-driven competitions quickly followed. Being at the top of the in-game leaderboards wasn’t enough for players; they also wanted to compete with other talented players and possibly make some cash in the process. That’s how it was at the beginning.

Even though Epic Games promised $100 million in prize money for PUBG’s fiercest rival, Fortnite, in 2019, this hasn’t been enough to win over fans. PUBG has realized this and decided to establish a formal, yearly eSports season. Six leagues and three more professional circuits made up the official PUBG eSports circuit, which was divided into different regions. Events like the Global Championship are organized by PUBG Corp., which has teamed up with outside organizers. The viewing experience has been incredible, from the competition with the new PUBG eSport rulebook to the production quality, casting, and analytical talent.

Soon after, PUBG Corp. made improvements to the game and the manner they are growing the eSports appeal in several “neglected” regions in the world. For PUBG Corp., separating from outside organizers couldn’t have been simple. With third-party circuits and other event organizers around, it became difficult for fans to follow the story of teams they might want to support or simply to obtain information about what was happening. The new eSports framework from PUBG Corp. provided players and teams with predictable timetables that allowed them to arrange time away from training and competition. This allowed them to avoid burnout and have time to come up with new strategies, which, in turn, allowed them to perform even better when the time came.

Even if the number of viewers is still small in comparison to its early days, PUBG eSports still has a ways to go before it can be considered on par with games like Counter-Strike 2 and Rainbow Six Siege.

Since the official game release in 2017, PUBG has garnered a lot of attention from eSports fans worldwide, as evidenced by the creation of numerous professional teams, voluntary contests, and other events. With its first international eSports competition, PUBG GLOBAL INVITATIONAL (PGI.S) 2018, held in Berlin, PUBG effectively demonstrated the potential of eSports. Through a number of competitions, PUBG created a battle royale eSports ecosystem that’s enjoyable and equitable. Since 2019, PUBG has had more than 120 regional and third-party events, in addition to hosting more than 50 official tournaments. With a total prize fund of 35+ million dollars, it has firmly established itself as the leading eSport in the battle royale genre.

All-time peak viewers for a PUBG event were 757,875, and the numbers were achieved precisely during the PGI.S in 2028. Since 2024, the viewership numbers have been falling more and more each year.

The game itself has completely stalled; problems and subpar performance have made players lose interest and stop playing. There were also issues with updates and other things. In essence, the game developers and tournament organizers ought to have taken advantage of it when the game was the largest of all, but they didn’t. The business sat there and watched since they were too inexperienced. For instance, there was a significant communication breakdown between the Korean headquarters and the NA studios. Additionally, the reason, say, Counter-Strike (either CS: GO or CS2 now) is more successful is that it has had a skin market that draws a lot of customers.

And one more thing. Since every team is fighting for the entire team, only die-hard fans will have the time or desire to watch six hours of PUBG every day. In PUBG, you must set up a specific time period throughout the day to watch your team play, possibly taking breaks when your team leaves early if you’re a casual fan who wants to watch your preferred team. In other eSports, you set aside one to three hours to watch your team compete, after which they end the day or weekend. For instance, a Bo2 in Dota 2 will last you about 1.5 to 2 hours, while a Bo3 will last two to three hours. Dota2 matches run approximately 30 to 45 minutes. In CS2, Bo1 will last an hour, and Bo3 will take roughly three and a half hours.

In fact, PUBG eSports had a lot of potential. Even though that ship has set sail, it’s currently re-expanding gradually. They’ll just need to keep building from this point on, but it will never reach its full potential again until they do something extraordinary, like releasing a second game, such as PUBG2 or something, to attract more players.

In conclusion, given that its viewing has grown, we don’t believe that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is an unpopular eSport. From a viewership of 263,566 in 2023 to 510,997 in 2024, it’s hardly a significant gain, but at least it has been rising.