Forget 'Call of Duty' — the hottest game of 2017 is an insane 100-player battle royale

In 2000, a bizarre and controversial film called "Battle Royale" was released. In the film, dozens of Japanese high-school students are placed on an island, given weapons, and forced to kill one another until one person remains.

That person is crowned the winner.

Battle Royale

If that sounds a lot like the plot of "The Hunger Games," it's because it's not far off. Though the plots are similar, "Battle Royale" is a far more brutal film. There is no prevailing heroine, no odds overcome. "Battle Royale" is a bleak, suspenseful, violent movie.

A breakout game with a bizarre name, "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" aims to re-create the tension and brutality of "Battle Royale." And unbelievably, it succeeds.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

"PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is available only on PC. It has only one game mode. It's not even fully complete — the game is available in "early access," which means it isn't finished, but you can buy it early and start playing now.

After just six months of availability, it has sold over 13 million copies. It's the third-most-watched game on Twitch, the world's largest game-streaming platform.

So what gives? Why is this game blowing up? Here's the deal.

Though it looks like a typical shooter, "Battlegrounds" is anything but.

Before we go any further, allow me to explain the ridiculous name:

• The game's creative director is known for creating "Battle Royale"-style games — massive online games where players fight to the death with limited weapons.

• His name is Brendan Greene, but his online handle is "PlayerUnknown."

• Thus the game is just called "Battlegrounds." The full name technically is "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds," but that's kind of like calling "Jurassic Park" "Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park."

Every game starts the same: You're on a plane with about 100 other humans. It's the most depressing plane ride I've ever seen.

The plane is a visual representation of an online lobby, essentially, but it serves another purpose — you choose when to exit the plane, and that choice is important because the next step is parachuting down to a massive, deserted island.

As you parachute down, you'll see other players doing the same. This is where the game starts — floating down to your almost certain death, eyeballing other players. Since every player starts with just the clothes on their back, the first 10 minutes of every match is a scramble for weapons, armor, vehicles, and security.

Any given part of the massive map looks like this. There are roads and abandoned buildings, and the vacated island is rife with weaponry.

As you land on the island, your first move is almost certainly to go indoors. You could bumrush other players who land near you in an attempt to punch them to death, but you probably shouldn't.

Instead, you likely will look for supplies — and those are indoors. This concept of looting for resources is a panic-inducing moment right off the bat.

Let's say another player lands near you in a town. Here's how that might play out:

• You both land around the same time, see each other, and head toward separate buildings.

• Maybe your building has a good weapon, or maybe it has a police vest for protection. Maybe it has nothing.

• But what about that other player? You've lost them, and they could have a killer weapon. Do you head out to another nearby building, hoping they aren't in the same one? Do you wait near a window, keeping an eye on the building they're in, waiting for them to leave? Do you take off running toward another nearby town, hoping for better supplies?

This is the central tension of "Battlegrounds," and it starts immediately.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider