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You can download PUBG for iOS and Android right now -- for free

Chicken dinner to go.

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Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Surprise, surprise: The unstoppable juggernaut that is PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is now available for your phone and tablet in the United States. And unlike its record-breaking PC and Xbox releases, the game is free of charge. It's a remarkably faithful recreation of the full PC game, from what we're told.

Here's the iOS link. 

Here's the Android link. 

Update, March 20: The game is now live globally, after a limited mobile release to start. 

For the uninitiated, PUBG is the fiendish online multiplayer shooter in which 100 players paradrop onto an island, hunt for deadly weaponry and fight till just one is left standing. I tell people it's the most stressful game I've ever played, and it's true. 

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The game can adjust graphical settings if you've got a weaker phone or tablet.

 Sean Buckley/CNET

If it sounds a lot like hot new game Fortnite, that's because Fortnite... let's just say heavily borrowed from PUBG. And if you're wondering why PUBG just arrived on mobile with no fanfare, it's probably because Fortnite just arrived on the iPhone and iPad four days ago and -- thanks to the superstar power of rapper Drake, who gave it the plug to end all plugs -- became the No. 1 app in 13 countries (according to SensorTower) within 12 hours of release.

It's time for PUBG to strike back. And so it is, first in Canada and now this US release. Though technically, PUBG launched on phone first, if you count an earlier release in China. I gave that version a go and was fairly impressed overall, except for the atrocious lag (I was playing on servers on the other side of the world, after all) and those times I ran into bots.

20+ reasons why PUBG Mobile works brilliantly on phones

PUBG Mobile
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