Greene also introduced microtransactions that allow players to use real-world funds to purchase loot crates that provide randomly-selected cosmetic items, also known as “skins”, which they can trade with other players; while Greene recognizes the issue with skin gambling, he believes that Valve has put safeguards in place to support a “skin economy” that will provide further revenue for them without concerns over gambling. However, by November 2017, gray market skin gambling sites began to appear that used PUBG cosmetics as virtual currency. Following controversy over the use of loot boxes to offer “pay-to-win” items in other games in November 2017, the PUBG Corporation affirmed that while they would continue to add new cosmetic items rewarded by in-game crate purchases, they would never add anything that affects or alters gameplay.In May 2018, PUBG Corporation disabled the ability to trade skins on the Steam Marketplace as they found that players were still abusing the system by selling them for monetary value through unofficial third-party platforms. While still in early access, Bluehole offered an early preview of the system by offering time-limited crates that could be purchased during the first PUBG Invitations tournament during Gamescom in August 2017, with the sales from these contributing to the prize pool. Among loot from these crates were special outfits inspired by the original Battle Royale film. Greene anticipates adding a campaign mode with co-operative player support, though there would be “no serious lore” crafted for the narrative, comparing this to similar modes in Watch Dogs.
