KRAFTON has called off the development of its extraction shooter, PUBG: Black Budget.

The development team behind PUBG: Black Budget announced via the Steam page on the 1st, saying, "After reviewing the current status and future direction of the project, we concluded that the current trajectory would not deliver the kind of long-lasting, satisfying experience that players deserve." They added, "Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to halt development."

PUBG: Black Budget was billed as a first-person tactical extraction shooter centering on the tense survival in an unknown territory. Set on Coli, an enigmatic island trapped in an endless loop of time, the game puts players in the boots of seasoned mercenaries dispatched to secure core technology hidden deep within an abandoned research facility.

Along the way, players could harvest artifacts while dodging the bizarre anomalies creeping across the map. The narrative promised to unravel the secrets of the SAPIENS project—the shadowy mastermind behind the Black Budget operation—by piecing together various clues.

Previously, the development team gauged market reaction by hosting two closed playtests through Steam. The first closed playtest was split into two sessions held from December 12 to 14 and from December 19 to 21, 2025, targeting users across Asia, North America, and Europe. This was followed by a second closed playtest spanning four days starting June 26, 2026.

A KRAFTON official stated, "PUBG Studios always places the player experience at the heart of every decision we make, and this call was made in strict accordance with that principle. Armed with the experience and insights gained throughout development and playtesting, we will continue our pursuit of delivering fresh gameplay experiences going forward."