Get In Early: How to Join the PUBG: Black Budget Closed Alpha

Not usually my beat, but this one has some heat: PUBG Corporation and Krafton have spun up a new extraction shooter called PUBG: Black Budget, and the Closed Alpha is happening on Steam across two weekends. If you want in, you can absolutely get in — you just have to jump through a couple of very 2024 hoops.

What this is

Black Budget is a tougher, sweatier take on PUBG, built as an extraction shooter. The Closed Alpha is a limited-time test that lets you poke at the early mechanics, progression, and combat. Heads up: the Alpha is first-person only right now.

How to get access (the guaranteed route)

Krafton is handing out Steam keys via Twitch and Chzzk Drops. Yes, you have to watch streams. No, it’s not complicated. Do this:

• Log in with your Krafton ID.
• Add PUBG: Black Budget to your Steam wishlist.
• Link your Steam and Twitch or Chzzk accounts to your Krafton ID.
• On Twitch or Chzzk, watch a Drops-enabled stream in the PUBG: Black Budget category for more than 30 minutes.
• On Twitch, manually claim the reward in your Twitch Drops Inventory. On Chzzk, hit 'Apply for Drops' next to the reward in your Drops Storage.
• Then go to the Black Budget event page and click 'Claim Drops Rewards' to grab your Steam key.

A couple things about those Drops:

They’re first-come, first-served and restock three times a day at 4:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 10:00 PM PST. If you did your 30 minutes but the keys are tapped out, wait for the next reset — you can claim your key from the event page without re-watching anything once it refills.

Or, the maybe-you-get-lucky route

You can also Request Access to the Playtest directly on Steam. If they let you in, the game shows up in your library or you’ll get an email. It’s not guaranteed, whereas the Drops route will secure a key as long as you claim while supplies last.

When you can play

The Alpha runs on two weekend windows on Steam:

Week 1: December 12, 1:00 AM – December 14, 11:59 PM PST

Week 2: December 19, 1:00 AM – December 21, 11:59 PM PST

Fine print you do not want to ignore

Only one code per account, and you can’t receive Drops more than once. If you’re not sure your watch time is counting, check your progress in your Twitch Drops Inventory or Chzzk Drop Storage. Once you hit the requirement, head back to the event page and claim the code.

That’s the whole playbook. It’s a bit of a scavenger hunt, but if you follow the steps and time your claim around the daily resets, you should walk away with a key.