PUBG's new Savage map will soon let players parachute straight into an underground cave system

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' new tropical-themed Savage map will soon receive a complex underground cave system that players will be able to parachute straight into at the start of match, developer Bluehole has revealed.

Bluehole shared the news in a post on Steam, explaining that while it still has "months of work left to do" on Savage, there's plenty to look forward to as development continues.

Alongside the inevitable ongoing refinements and balance changes, the map will receive new vehicles and weapons; however, Bluehole says that it's most excited about implementing "the new areas that we think will set this map apart from our first two".

One of these areas was evidently inspired by the PUBG team's recent research trip to Southeast Asia. Sharing a picture of an enormous natural hole in the ground, snapped during the expedition, Bluehole asked, "How'd you like to drop from the plane and try to hit a hole like this?". Elaborating further, it explained that it's "working on an underground cave system with plenty methods of escape", based on Thailand's famous Phraya Nakhon Cave.

For those curious to know how this might eventually look in-game, Bluehole also unveiled some preliminary concept work, saying that it's been exploring ways to ensure that the new cavern system is "a fun and unique part of our next map". Early renders reveal that the general idea is for players to skydive down into the massive hole at the start of a match, and then carefully filter through the connected tunnel systems, bursting out of caves at various points on the map.

Bluehole says that the early work done on the cave system is "looking pretty amazing", although it still has some way to go before the new location will be ready to show off. It doesn't sound like there'll be too long to wait however; the developer claims that it will begin "rolling it out in the next couple of testing phases".