PUBG was a phenomenal game when it came out of EA with friends (3-4 years ago), just riddled with bugs, maybe that was part of its charm at times. The problem is it just didn't evolve further than some bug fixes and a few new features. It's on an outdated engine with mediocre devs. It's still the best BR there is IMO, by far the most realistic with all out all the sliding, parachuting, laser guns with zero recoil, mini map watching spam fest that is all the other BRs.
To call it a cash grab is absurd, it was only $30 3+ years ago and I put 100s of hours into it with friends.