The screen they play on may be small, but for competitors in the 2025 PUBG MOBILE Global Championship (PMGC), the tournament is anything but. Between 12-14 December, 16 teams from all around the world gathered in Thailand to give it their all on a giant stage in front of a legion of cheering fans.

This major global competition is the conclusion of more than a year of training and face-offs for these professional teams, all leading towards the prestigious event in the circuit. In qualifying for this ultimate trial, teams went head-to-head once more to take the 2025 PMGC title and the lion’s share of $3m — one of the largest prize pools in esports.

But that wasn’t all, the tournament expanded beyond the venue’s walls, with PUBG MOBILE activations popping up around Bangkok. IGN was on the ground to witness the grand finals, soak up the festival-like atmosphere, and learn more about how PUBG MOBILE Esports is growing in 2026.

DROPPING INTO BANGKOK

The Grand Finals of 2025 PMGC may have taken place on the 5th floor of the luxurious Siam Paragon shopping mall, but the celebrations extended far and wide. Both inside and outside the venue, PUBG MOBILE pop-ups, collaborations, and installations brought a vibrant energy to proceedings, providing fans and players who travelled from across the globe with unique experiences, in addition to the spectacle of the Grand Finals.

On our first day, after entering past the plane-themed check-in desk, we found ourselves in the PUBG United Fan Zone, an area seemingly filled with as many activities as there were attendees. This marked a pivotal moment for PUBG MOBILE, as it collaborated with PUBG for the first time ever to celebrate a long-standing history of competition and sportsmanship conveyed through the 2025 PMGC and PUBG Global Championship 2025 (PGC). This certainly showed, as lining the walls of the Fan Zone were interactive experiences ranging from a human claw machine, glambot, PUBG café, Frosty Barbershop (where I got a PUBG MOBILE-themed temporary tattoo), Metro Royale battle experience, and a World of Wonder Challenge area where players could get hands on with curated UGC experiences.

In the centre of the Fan Zone, the PUBG MOBILE Air Drop Stage hosted multiple performances from bands (Thai artists Paper Planes were a particular highlight, getting the crowd jumping and singing along with their pop-punk anthems), as well as several Muay Thai fights – truly ‘kicking’ things off.

Following the opening ceremony and 2026 PUBG MOBILE Esports announcements (more on that later), we swung by the PDP Creative Zone, home to a colossal PUBG MOBILE helmet that had been decorated by selected PDP artists and designers during the event. As if that wasn’t enough, the approach to the stage also featured pop-ups collaborations with Porsche and Thai bakery brand famous for its adorable mascot character, Butterbear.

And that was just a selection of what was going on in the venue! Once the first matches of the Grand Finals were finished, it was time for Bangkok to show that PUBG United had arrived in the city. After a quick trip to the Chao Phraya River in a PUBG MOBILE branded Tuk Tuk, we witnessed the PUBG MOBILE drone light show featuring hundreds of drones lighting up the sky. These formed iconic PUBG MOBILE imagery, including ‘Winner Winner Chicken Dinner’, characters dropping into the map, and appropriately, Air Drop crates. Plus, if you kept an eye out on the Chao Phraya River, you could even see the PUBG MOBILE Giant Boat making a splash.

ONE WORLD, TWO CHAMPIONS

As mentioned, for the first time ever, both the PUBG MOBILE and PUBG Global Championships came together for a unified global event – PUBG United – a celebration of both games and their communities. The sense of two giants coming together was felt, and illustrated, by the two giant back-to-back stages that hosted the Grand Finals, with gameplay and crucial team standings displayed on the wall-to-wall screens, giving attendees a great view of the action wherever they were sat.

Speaking of giants, PUBG MOBILE’s collaboration with luxury brands took a big step up this year. Building on a successful collaboration campaign between Porsche and PUBG MOBILE, it was announced that Porsche would invigorate the PMGC stage with the prize of a Porsche Cayenne to the MVP player of the 2025 PMGC Grand Finals. For 2025 PMGC MVP ‘TOP’, from team Alpha Gaming, it's likely this softened the blow of coming third place overall.

For the winners however, another collaboration offered up its own prize, as the collaboration between PUBG MOBILE and renowned luxury fashion house Balenciaga saw the two brands converge their unique identities again, this time with an exclusive designed jacket that only the Champions of the 2025 PUBG MOBILE Global Championship had the honour of wearing and owning. With this, in addition to the glory of being crowned 2025 PMGC Champions and lifting the trophy, team Alpha 7 esports were adorned with exclusive 2025 PMGC Champion jackets.

MOBILE GROWTH

With more than 1 billion downloads around the world, and over 50 million daily active users, PUBG MOBILE is one of the most popular mobile games in the world – so it tracks that the game’s esports scene is also hugely popular, and continues to grow. With more than 1 billion downloads around the world, and over 50 million daily active users, PUBG MOBILE is one of the most popular mobile games in the world – so it tracks that the game’s esports scene is also hugely popular, and continues to grow.

This growth and success was exemplified by PUBG MOBILE being awarded Mobile Esports of the Year at the Esports Awards for the second time. It’s no surprise then that at this year’s PMGC, PUBG MOBILE recorded its highest peak viewership in five years, with more than 1.3 million concurrent viewers watching the Grand Finals across the globe. This peak was reached between matches 16-18, in the last few pivotal moments of the competition which saw Alpha 7, ULF Esports, and Alpha Gaming battle it out for the title which was well within reach of all three teams.

Things for PUBG MOBILE are only set to get even better, and as the new year approaches, a new season of PUBG MOBILE esports events begins, and as was announced by James Yang, Senior Director of Global esports at Level Infinite, the PUBG MOBILE Esports calendar is looking even busier in 2026…

WHAT’S NEXT FOR PUBG MOBILE ESPORTS IN 2026

Building on 2025’s PUBG MOBILE’s esports experience, which featured over one-million players from over 180 countries and regions, Yang unveiled a series of updates regarding the future of PUBG MOBILE Esports, including a refreshed competitive structure and a doubling down on support for grassroots and amateur level esports.

The biggest shake up coming in 2026 is that instead of following the previous Super League structure, there will be two PMGO tournaments spread across two seasons, expanding qualification routes and increasing the number of opportunities for players of all levels to compete at the top. As usual, both these PMGOs will be open to amateur and professional teams, allowing more fans to compete at the top of their game and earn rewards.

The first stage in this format will see more than 30 PUBG MOBILE National Championships taking place across eight regions globally. These will feed into regional qualifiers, determining which teams advance. The 2026 PMGO Season 1 will take place in South East Asia with a share of $500,000 USD on offer, while the second season will be held for the first time in Pakistan with the same prize pool.

The teams who accumulate the most points across the two seasons will earn their spot at the 2026 PMGC, which returns to Turkiye after its previous appearance there back in 2023, set to deliver the biggest PMGC tournament to date, with another hefty $3m prize pool up for grabs.

Before that is the return of the PUBG MOBILE World Cup (PMWC) as part of the Esports World Cup for the third year running. Held in Riyadh, next year’s tournament looks to further the esports mobile game of the year’s global presence and growing audience, and solidify PUBG MOBILE’s position as an esports leader.

Alongside these major changes to the annual format, players can also expect integration across the board that aims to fulfil many of the same goals of making esports more accessible for everyone, everywhere. Firstly, it will be easier than ever for organisers to create their own competitions, as the registration process for third-parties has been streamlined, and for competitors across the globe, the enhancement of the in-game participation system means they’ll be able to join an esports tournament with just a few clicks.

GET INVOLVED

Bangkok closed out the year with another successful PMGC. PUBG United celebrated everything fans love about the game, with activations and pop-ups sustaining buzz surrounding the main event of the Grand Finals. As players and fans gear up for 2026, new opportunities to compete present themselves, will you be taking part?

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