PUBG Global Series Circuit 3 heads to Shanghai with $500K on the line

PUBG esports is shifting from Seoul to Shanghai for Circuit 3, a three-week stretch running August 5–23 that packs three separate series — PGS 7, PGS 8, and PGS 9 — into one continuous block. The total prize pool across all three events is $500,000.

PGS 7 and PGS 8 each carry $100,000, while PGS 9 — the Circuit Final — is worth $300,000. Twenty-four teams compete across each series: 12 Global Partner Teams and 12 Regional Qualifiers. The format runs through a Group Stage, Winners Stage, and Survival Stage before reaching the Final Stage, with placements in earlier rounds determining how teams enter later ones. PGS 9's Grand Finals run August 21–23 as a best-of-15 over three days, with the team holding the most points at the end crowned Circuit 3 Champion. There's a meaningful wrinkle for PGS 9 specifically — top finishers in the PGS 7 and PGS 8 Winners Stages earn Advantage Points (up to 10 for first place, scaling down to 1 for seventh and eighth) that carry into the Grand Finals standings. Circuit 3 also marks the start of the second half of the 2026 PGS season, and from this point every series awards twice as many PGS Points as events in the first half — meaning the race to PGC 2026 gets significantly more intense.

PGS is PUBG's premier global competitive circuit, sitting just below the annual PUBG Global Championship. Moving the action to Shanghai for Circuit 3 continues the series' pattern of rotating major events across key esports markets in Asia. With double points now in play and the PGC qualification race tightening, results over these three weeks will have an outsized impact on which teams secure a spot at the year-end championship.

All matches start at 10:00 UTC daily, with the exception of the PGS 7 Group Stage on August 5, which kicks off at 05:00 UTC. Broadcasts are live on Twitch, Kick, and YouTube in English, Turkish, Russian, and Portuguese, with Twitch Drops active throughout the event.