吃鸡

What does 吃鸡 mean?

In Chinese gaming talk, 吃鸡 does triple duty. It names PUBG and, by extension, the whole battle-royale genre; it means “play a round” (今晚吃鸡吗?); and it means “take the win” (吃鸡了, we got the chicken). The victory screen reads 大吉大利，晚上吃鸡, a Chinese rendering of “Winner winner, chicken dinner,” and players simply kept the last two words. Dying right after landing has its own term, 落地成盒.

Where does 吃鸡 come from?

PUBG: Battlegrounds launched on Steam Early Access in March 2017, and Chinese players adopted 吃鸡 as the game's nickname within months; by that August the phrase was prominent enough that developer 蓝洞 was reported to be filing related trademark applications in Japan, with Chinese outlets like Chuapp explaining the name to newcomers. The victory text renders the English line “Winner winner, chicken dinner,” popularized by the 2008 caper film 《决胜21点》 (21). Tencent's mobile adaptations later carried 吃鸡 vocabulary to a far wider audience in 2018.

How to use 吃鸡

• 今晚八点，老地方，吃鸡吗？
  Jīnwǎn bā diǎn, lǎo dìfāng, chī jī ma?
  Tonight at eight, the usual place — you in for some chicken?
• 他枪法一般，昨晚双排却连吃了三把鸡。
  Tā qiāngfǎ yībān, zuówǎn shuāngpái què lián chī le sān bǎ jī.
  His aim is nothing special, yet he strung together three chicken dinners in duos last night.