PUBG's LINE FRIENDS Winter Wonderland: A 2026 Look Back at the Festive Chaos
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS LINE FRIENDS winter event brought festive Sanhok chaos, bingo rewards, and nostalgic crossover fun.
In the winter of 2022, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS decided that its usual diet of chicken dinners and panic-driven bridge camping needed a sprinkling of adorable chaos. The result? A triple LINE FRIENDS combo that turned Sanhok into a wintery dreamland, complete with BROWN, CONY, SALLY, CHOCO, and a choo-choo train that somehow made the jungle feel like a snow globe. As of 2026, that event is a nostalgic footnote rather than a live promotion, but its absurdity deserves a retrospective. After all, who could forget the sight of battle-hardened players politely sidestepping a cartoon train while clutching a frying pan?
The core idea was simple: drop into Sanhok and encounter LINE FRIENDS characters in their festive hideaway. SALLY and her choo-choo train revolved around a magical snow globe, while BROWN and CONY enjoyed a cherry-on-the-top date. Colliding with the moving train didn't hurt, but the event page insisted that players apologize to SALLY if they wished to keep their stay at Paradise Resort. Was that a genuine threat or just a charming bit of etiquette? The world may never know. What was clear, however, was that Paradise Resort offered a luxurious stay with LINE FRIENDS—though room conditions were not guaranteed, thanks to other visitors hunting for that Chicken Dinner. It was the hospitality equivalent of a loot drop: exciting, unpredictable, and occasionally explosive.
Of course, no holiday crossover would be complete without a side of bingo. The LINE FRIENDS Bingo! event invited players to complete daily missions, collect tickets, and cross out bingo lines for LINE FRIENDS and Vikendi rewards. Access came through the Event page icon in the upper-right side of the lobby. A 5×5 bingo card received random numbers from 1 through 25. Tickets unlocked a single random number. The goal was to unlock as many bingo lines as possible during the event period. Daily missions reset daily at 02:00 UTC. Entering the lobby granted one ticket. Surviving 15 minutes in a single match—including spectating teammates—granted one ticket, with another listed as two tickets in the original breakdown. It was the sort of promotion that turned lobby idling into a strategic pursuit. Who knew that simply showing up could feel like a tactical victory?
The bingo line rewards read like a holiday shopping list assembled by a very enthusiastic elf:
| Bingo Line | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | Peculiar Greeting Emote |
| 2 | Dinoland Reborn Spray |
| 3 | Vikendi Snow Sports Boots |
| 4 | Vikendi Snow Sports Pants |
| 5 | Vikendi Snow Sports Jacket |
| 6 | LINE FRIENDS CONY Gifts Spray |
| 7 | Vikendi Snow Sports – Helmet (Level 1) |
| 8 | The Drop Spray |
| 9 | Vikendi Snow Sports Gloves |
| 10 | Vikendi Snow Sports Backpack (Level 1) |
| 11 | LINE FRIENDS BROWN Gifts Spray |
| 12 | Contraband Coupon x 10 |
Bonus rewards arrived at certain thresholds: one bingo line unlocked the Vikendi Snow Sports – S686; five lines unlocked Contraband Coupon x 15; and twelve lines unlocked the LINE FRIENDS BROWN Wreath Emblem. It was a progression system disguised as a board game, and players could draw the same bingo number up to twice. Tickets stopped appearing once every number was marked. In 2026, that specific Bingo page is long gone, but the memory of chasing a single stubborn number remains painfully universal.
Then came the cosmetics. BROWN, CONY, SALLY, and CHOCO prepared their own costumes, and the Mega Bundle promised every LINE FRIENDS Set plus explosive bonus items. The LINE FRIENDS Mega Bundle cost 5,490 G-Coin and included bonus items: LINE FRIENDS BROWN – Pan, LINE FRIENDS BROWN Parachute, LINE FRIENDS BROWN Spray, LINE FRIENDS CONY Spray, LINE FRIENDS SALLY Spray, and LINE FRIENDS CHOCO Spray. Individual sets cost 2,080 G-Coin each. The BROWN Set included BROWN's Thumbs Up Emote. The CONY Set included CONY's Joy Emote. The SALLY Set included SALLY's Anger Emote. The CHOCO Set included Victory Dance – LINE FRIENDS CHOCO's Boogie Emote. Was it shameless? Perhaps. Was it adorable? Absolutely. The event even noted that items might reappear through other in-game platforms such as the Workshop or Your Shop, and that sales periods were subject to change. In 2026, that caveat feels less like fine print and more like prophecy.
For PC, the event ran from December 13, 2022, 11 PM PST to January 9, 2023, 11 PM PST, with corresponding CET and KST windows. Console players got a slightly later start: December 14, 2022, 11 PM PST to January 10, 2023, 11 PM PST. The cosmetics sales periods followed similar staggered schedules. These dates are historical now, which means any player hoping to relive the crossover in 2026 will need luck, a time machine, or a generous re-run. The PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team's original sign-off—"Spend a lovely holiday with LINE FRIENDS!"—still lands with a cheerful thud.
So what remains? A reminder that even a battle royale can embrace the ridiculous. LINE FRIENDS turned Sanhok into a snow globe, bingo into a daily ritual, and a choo-choo train into an object of polite apology. In 2026, the event is over, but the question lingers: if a player bumps into SALLY's train today, does the apology still count?