Bengaluru, Jan 12 (IANS): South Korean video game developer Krafton on Tuesday announced that its battle royale game PUBG: Battlegrounds is now free-to-play (F2P) on PC and consoles.

With the game's transition to F2P, it introduces Battlegrounds Plus, an optional premium account upgrade that allows players to access a variety of new and exclusive in-game features.

"This F2P transition, which was initially announced last month at The Game Awards (TGA), marks the start of a new era for the globally popular battle royale game," the company said in a statement.

While all new players will start with a basic account that offers access to most game features, they can upgrade to Battlegrounds Plus for a one-time fee of $12.99 and gain access to several features.

In addition to the F2P transition, update 15.2 is now live in PUBG: Battlegrounds.

The new update introduces Tactical Gear, a new category of in-game items that provide new and existing players with various options for improving their in-game performances that do not involve pure gunplay.