PGC 2026 Schedule: Start Times, Maps, Stages and Prizes

PGC 2026 starts on Tuesday 1 December at 11:00 UTC and ends on Sunday 13 December, when the last day of the Grand Finals goes live two hours earlier, at 09:00 UTC. That is from KRAFTON's PGC 2026 Tournament Details page, published on 12 November, which puts a stage next to every team's name, a map next to every match and a dollar figure next to every placing.

This post is the watch guide: when, what, where each team starts and what is at stake. How the 32 teams earned their places (PGS Points, regional seeds, the S2G wildcard) is in the PGC 2026 qualification breakdown, and this one doesn't repeat it.

The calendar and start times

KRAFTON gives start times in UTC only. The local columns are my conversion for December, when US and European clocks are on standard time:

The event changes city halfway through. KRAFTON's 5 November participating teams announcement says "The Qualifying Stage and Survival Stage will take place in Shanghai, China," and the Grand Finals take the last 16 teams to Istanbul, Türkiye. KRAFTON's calendar has nothing on 7 to 9 December. Practice Day on 10 December is, in KRAFTON's words, a "behind-the-scenes look" at the players' practice and rehearsals; the specific programs vary by region, and regions offering Practice Day content will share details on their own channels.

Where each team starts

So the eight Grand Finals invites play nothing in Shanghai and walk in on 11 December. Twenty-four teams fight for the other eight places.

This list moves most of the PGS Points qualifiers up from where the PGS seed table alone puts them. That table, KRAFTON's PGC Seed Distribution graphic in The Final Road to PGC, PGS Circuit 4, sends PGS rank 1 to the Grand Finals, rank 2 to Survival Stage Day 1 and ranks 3 to 8 to the Qualifying Stage. On the 12 November list, only Virtus.pro (rank 1) and Twisted Minds (rank 7) start where it says. 17Gaming, DN SOOPers, Falcons and Made in Thailand are Grand Finals invites, and eArena and T1 start on Survival Stage Day 1. KRAFTON's page doesn't give a reason team by team. The rule it set in its May announcement is that a team qualifying through both PGS Points and a regional league takes "the higher-stage qualification," which would explain a team starting above its PGS seed.

How the Survival Stage works

Every team that isn't a Grand Finals invite goes through the Survival Stage, and no one is eliminated before the end of Day 4. Each day is five matches with 16 teams, and each day's winner goes straight to the Grand Finals. Per KRAFTON's format graphic:

Every day adds up to 16 teams exactly. Two things are worth knowing as a viewer.

A bad day sends you to rest, not home. A team that finishes 10th to 16th on Day 1 skips Day 2 and comes back on Day 3. The catch is that the Final is seeded on total points across Days 1 to 4, and the arrows mean a team that drops down skips a day. A Survival Day 1 invite that finishes 2nd to 9th, then 2nd to 10th, then 2nd to 11th plays all four days, while a Day 1 bottom-seven finish caps a team at three. The eight teams that drop from the Qualifying Stage to Day 2 can play three days at most, or only two if they finish 11th to 16th on Day 2. That's more matches to score points in for the consistent teams, though KRAFTON's graphic doesn't say whether the points are adjusted for it.

Four teams go out before the Final. After Day 4, 20 of the 24 teams are still without a Grand Finals place, assuming the four daily winners are taken out of the count (the graphic doesn't spell that out). Only 16 make the Final, so four are eliminated on points at the end of Day 4. Then the Final sends four more to Istanbul and eliminates 12.

The Grand Finals are a straight 15-match points race: five matches a day over three days, with "the final standings ... determined by the cumulative points earned across all matches," per KRAFTON. The page describes no carry-over of Shanghai points.

The map for every match

The pool is four maps: Erangel, Miramar, Taego and Rondo. The 12 November page fixes the order for every day:

Count the Grand Finals and it isn't an even split: Erangel 5 matches, Taego 4, Miramar 3, Rondo 3. Every day in Shanghai is two Erangels, then one each of the others. The last match of the championship, Match 15, is on Erangel, and Day 2 is the only day that opens on Taego and plays two Taegos.

If you want to know what the pros are doing on each, the map guides cover drops and rotations: Erangel, Miramar, Taego and Rondo. The zone clock esports uses is in the blue zone timings breakdown.

Prize pool and crowdfunding

The base prize pool is $1,500,000, split into a $1,310,000 Ranking Prize across all 32 teams and a $190,000 Special Prize. The full ladder from KRAFTON's prize graphic:

The ranking rows add up to $1,310,000 and the specials to $190,000, so the table accounts for the whole $1.5M. The champion takes a third of the base pool on placement alone, and a team adds $10,000 for every Grand Finals match in which it is, in KRAFTON's words, the "highest-scoring team."

Crowdfunding sits outside the base pool. KRAFTON's page says 25% of the revenue from PGC 2026 Event Pass sales goes into it, and it is paid to the Grand Finals top eight by final placement. The May announcement put that split at "30% to 4%," first to eighth. Neither page gives a crowdfunding total yet, because it depends on pass sales.

Where to watch, and PUBG Fantasy

KRAFTON says "All matches will be broadcast live through the official PUBG Esports channels." The English ones it lists:

• pubgesports.com/en
• YouTube: PUBG Esports
• Twitch: PUBG

In game, the Update 44.1 patch notes say "PUBG Fantasy, enjoyed alongside PUBG Esports, returns for PGC 2026," letting you build a roster from PGC 2026 teams and chase the global leaderboard, on PC and console. The notes promise the schedule and how to take part in an announcement "at the end of November," so there's nothing to sign up for yet. The same patch puts a PGC 2026 theme and banner on the Starting Plane on every map, and PGC promotional images on billboards, in Normal and Custom matches. The 44.1 breakdown has the rest of that patch.

Still to be announced

As of 13 November, the KRAFTON pages cited here leave these open:

• Tickets and venues. The 12 November page names no venue in either city and says on-site attendance and fan activities will be announced on the official website and social channels.
• PUBG Fantasy details. Dates, rules and rewards are due at the end of November.
• Event Pass contents and price. The page mentions the pass only as the source of crowdfunding.
• Practice Day timing. No start time is given for 10 December, and its content is left to each region.
• Other-language broadcasts. Only the English channels are listed.

Quick Action Checklist

• Day one is Tuesday 1 December, 11:00 UTC (06:00 ET, 12:00 CET, 19:00 in Shanghai)
• The Grand Finals finale on Sunday 13 December starts two hours earlier: 09:00 UTC
• Eight teams, including Virtus.pro, 17Gaming, Falcons and S2G, skip Shanghai and start in the Grand Finals on 11 December
• Each Survival Stage day's winner books a Grand Finals spot; four more come from the 6 December Final
• Grand Finals maps: Erangel 5, Taego 4, Miramar 3, Rondo 3, finishing on Erangel
• $500,000 to the champion, $10,000 per Grand Finals match win, $10,000 to every team that misses the Grand Finals
• Watch on pubgesports.com, YouTube (pubgesports) or Twitch (pubg)
• Look for the PUBG Fantasy announcement at the end of November