PUBG has unveiled its April Fools' joke ahead of schedule this year, and it's a doozy. Fantasy Battle Royale is a third-person squad-based gamemode where you play as classes from D&D-esque fantasy games, like a wizard or a barbarian. However, since you can't exactly find chainmail on Erangel, these classes are creatively-assembled from what they could find lying around--for example, the paladin's shield is a trash can lid, and the barbarian's sword is a repurposed saw.
According to the announcement, these matches will be fast and furious, with the so-called "blue-zone" moving much faster than in regular matches. These classes each have special weapons, too, with the paladin's Mendingstar healing your allies when you whack them, and the barbarian's Kick-Ash Longsword increasing your movement speed with every hit. The special Fantasy Battle Royale event will run from April 1 to April 7.

In the announcement, PUBG Corp noted that the deeply-felt impact of the coronavirus crisis caused it to consider whether or not to go ahead with this lighthearted mode. While the team ultimately decided to proceed with it, they did make all of the exclusive items for this mode earnable through play alone, as the mode bestows "gold" that you use to buy this limited-time loot. You can also buy them in the regular shop.
PUBG Corp notes that this mode offers its first implementation of a crafting system, and if the community likes it, the team might add it to the broader game. This new mode also follows in the wake of PUBG's third anniversary announcement, which comes with a raft of new skins.