PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS News

Hello Players,

Last weekend, we conducted the LABS: Ranked Ruleset test. However, due to the Vikendi test running at the same time, many of you asked us for additional time to test. Because of this, we are bringing the Ranked Ruleset back for a round two of testing to give more players a chance to provide their feedback without feeling like they're missing out on other tests.

Before we get to the details of the second test, we want to talk more on why we're making a separate ruleset for ranked in the first place.

Why come up with a different Ranked Ruleset when the Esports Ruleset (S.U.P.E.R.) already exists? If we're trying to have a Competitive Mode, what's more competitive than esports? The PUBG Esports Ruleset is designed to be exciting to watch, while providing as competitive of an environment as possible to our pros. This is why, for example, the entire looting phase is minimized though increased loot and faster early zones. It's getting players into the action faster to keep the audience engaged. This puts the focus on the competition between the professionals who play PUBG for a living, with as few external elements impacting their tactics and movements as possible, such as the Red Zone. We looked at a lot of data after releasing the PGC 2019 mode last year and came to the conclusion that the Esports Ruleset was too big of a change from the normal Public Match for most players. After looking at all the numbers, the Ranked Ruleset is an attempt to appeal to a wider spectrum of PUBG players who want to be challenged by a competitive environment but still want to play a game they know and understand.

The second Ranked Ruleset test will take place in LABS from March 13th to 16th and settings will be identical to the previous test. We've dropped them below again for a refresher.

The goal is to provide an environment where players can show off their skills, while maintaining the fun and unique experience of PUBG Battle Royale. Getting this right incorporates various systems, such as rank algorithm, rewards, leaderboards, and much more, which is why it's crucial for us to analyze gameplay data and get your feedback.

As before, feedback from this test will help us determine whether we need to make some adjustments before we go live with Competitive Mode, so be sure to share your thoughts on the current settings. We'll take a look at your feedback alongside the data we receive once the test is over and decide the next moves from there. Our goal is a fun and competitive environment that allows players the chance to prove their skills while still feeling like PUBG Battle Royale.

Thank you and enjoy the Ranked Ruleset test!



Rules

• Number of players: 64 players
  
• Perspective: FPP / TPP
  
• Squad only
  
• Random map (Erangel / Miramar / Sanhok)

Test Period

• Mar 13 16:00 KST ~ Mar 16 16:00 KST

[h2]Ranked Ruleset Changes[/h2]
Red Zone
In public matches, Red Zones spawn randomly across the map, but generally appear more centrally on the map. However, in Ranked Ruleset, the Red Zone is placed towards the edges of the safe area. This encourages players to keep moving and get to the safe zones sooner, meaning players will have to make quicker decisions when it comes to looting, fighting, or moving.

• Smaller Red Zone than public matches
  
• Fewer shells (explosions within the Red Zone)
  
• Red Zone size and frequency decrease as the match progresses
  
• Red Zone bombing duration is less than public matches 

Item Spawns
We have adjusted the item spawns in the Ranked Ruleset to provide a competitive gameplay environment while maintaining the original familiar Battle Royale experience you know from public matches.

However, players will still have to loot several areas in order to be fully equipped and we expect combat during these phases to contribute to your loot as well.

• The total amount of item spawns on all maps are greater than that of in public match
  
• Increased item spawn rate of primary weapons, armor, and healing items
  

Blue Zone
We have adjusted the zone settings to ensure the maximized use of all areas on the Battlegrounds. In early stages of Blue Zone, players will have to move a little bit more swiftly compared to public matches.

After the early phases, zones are set to have players more likely to be engaged with other teams and players. With these new settings, players will be able to prove their skills in much more tense environment than public matches.

• Early phase: Similar to existing public matches, but with a shorter prep time
  
• Middle phase: Blue Zone speed is much quicker, similar to Esports Ruleset settings
  
• Late phase: Blue Zone has higher damage but moves slower. Players in this phase will be under pressure to pick their fights and keep moving.

Other

• The starting plane's flight path is more likely to fly closer to the first safe area.
  
• Vehicle spawns are same as the normal games, however, motor glider is disabled until we have further analysis and feeback. 
  
• Flare guns will be spawned as they provide a strategic choice between care package and BRDM-2 while taking a risk.
  
• Unlike the previous test where players were not able to collect any rewards, in this test players will be able to gain BP.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and we'll see you on the Battlegrounds!

- PUBG

Update April 9: An additional update has been deployed:

• Greatly reduced instances of hitching during gameplay. We will continue to make further optimizations where possible
  
• Fixed an issue where players could clip through walls/ceilings of buildings by using vaulting and ledge-grab
  
  • Most instances of this exploit have been resolved, although in some uncommon situations the exploit can still be performed. We'll keep an eye out and work on additional fixes
• Reverted blood effect changes implemented in Update 5.3
  
• Full details here: https://www.pubg.com/april-9th-maintenance-hotfix/

Update April 1: An additional update has been deployed to fix the following issues:

• Fixed an issue with Win94 kills being recorded as DBS in Mastery
  
• Improved backend network data logging to help improve connection quality
  
• Changes to decrease instances of game crashes
  

Update March 25: An additional update has been deployed to fix the following issues:

• ADS view obscured with certain weapons
  
• Unable to open mission list in some cases
  
• Visual issue with "Victory Dance 14" emote
  
• Panzerfaust warhead wouldn't explode when shot mid air
  
• DBS and M249 spawned without ammunition on Karakin
  
• Unable to complete Panzerfaust missions which finishing DBNO enemies or kill backblasted enemies
  
• Unable to complete Sticky Bomb missions if the enemy was DBNO
  
• Weapon would remain in the character's hand when bandaging
  
• 'Equip C4' displayed under key bindings
  

Update 6.3 is live and some big updates have arrived. We're dropping the much teased Panzerfaust onto Karakin, rebalancing some weapons including one formerly only found in Care Packages, and summing it all up with some bug fixes and quality of life improvements including the much requested change to invincibility in Team Deathmatch. All this and more in Update 6.3! Read on for all the details.

Update March 13: Due to community feedback, we're changing some of our initial plans. The M249 will be available on ALL maps as uncommon ground loot, as will the DBS which has also been removed from Care Packages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4sr0-tItnY

[h2]New Weapon: Panzerfaust[/h2]

We've been sneaking the Panzerfaust into our Season 6 videos since the start, but we're finally putting the boom tube into your hands! While a powerful AoE damage tool on the Battlegrounds, there are some drawbacks to picking the Panzerfaust up. First of all, it takes up a primary weapon slot, limiting your options on the diverse terrain of Karakin. The projectile travels pretty quickly, but can be dodged by the attentive player. There's also a backblast area behind the Panzerfaust, so watch out for those squadmates before you go firing it off.

Panzerfaust

• Karakin exclusive
  
• Uncommon world spawn found across the map
  
• Guaranteed to be in every airdrop
  
• The Panzerfaust warhead explodes upon impact, but can also be blown up mid air
  
  • The damage radius is 6m from the point of impact
    
  • The explosion can deal splash damage through thin walls and objects, up to a short distance
    
  • Can be used to breach specific walls on Karakin, much like the Sticky Bomb
    
  • The warhead will explode mid air, before impact if damaged by explosions or shot by a bullet
• One time use
  
  • Once the warhead is fired, the Panzerfaust tube will be discarded and cannot be picked back up
• Firing the warhead produces a backblast, so be careful!
  
  • The backblast damages those within a 3m zone behind the weapon
    Be careful you don't have any teammates, or a wall too close behind you. You've been warned
• Zeroing options at 60, 100 (default) and 150 meters

[h2]Weapon Balance Changes[/h2]

As we near the end of the season, we're also doing a little balance shuffle on a few weapons. The Tommy Gun has been weak for a while, so we're adding a sight slot for red dots and holos and upping damage, the M249 is moving from Care Packages to normal loot but is also losing a little damage and getting a bit more recoil, and the UMP-45 was nerfed a little too hard with the switch from 9mm, so we're giving it some love across the board. Take a look below for all the changes.

Update March 13: Due to community feedback, we're changing some of our initial plans. The M249 will be available on ALL maps as uncommon ground loot, as will the DBS which has also been removed from Care Packages.

Tommy Gun
Stronger and more versatile. You can now also attach Red Dots and Holos to your Tommy.

• Added upper rail to attach Red Dot and Holo Sights
  
• Increased rate of fire from 700 to 750
  
• Increased firing accuracy
  
  • We've reduced the bullet deviation penalty when firing for an extended duration
• Increased moving accuracy
  
• Decreased recoil when firing for an extended duration
  
  • This is due to the increased rate of fire

M249​
Removed from Care Packages and added to normal loot on ALL maps. Can now take more attachments but is tougher to control and does less damage.

• Added Stock attachment slot
  
  • A Tactical Stock can be equipped to improve weapon stability
• Added Magazine attachment​ slot
  
  • Reduced standard ammo capacity to 75
    
  • Now holds 150 with an extended mag
• Decreased base bullet damage from 45 to 40
  
• Increased recoil
  
• Found on ALL maps
  
• Semi-rare spawn

UMP-45​
An increase in power across the board, making the UMP a more viable choice for your arsenal.

• Increased base bullet damage​ from 39 to 41
  
• Increased rate of fire from 650 to 670
  
• Increased muzzle velocity from 300 to 360
  
  • This means an increase to the speed at which bullets leave the barrel, making it a bit easier to track moving targets

Alongside these balance changes, the M249 and Tommy Gun models and firing sounds have been updated.

DBS Removed from Care Packages
Now found on ALL maps as rare ground loot

[h2]Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]

• Improved visibility of nearby items on the ground by enhancing the glowing effect and adding a new pulse effect
  
  • The new pulse effect can be disabled and is listed as "Item Flashing Effect" under Gameplay settings
• Added an electric static sound to the Blue Zone wall providing players with an audible queue when the Blue Zone is near
  
• Players can now use 'Push to Talk' in the main menu lobby
  
• [Team Deathmatch] Added Rich Presence to let your Discord and Steam friends know when you're fragging in TDM
  
• [Team Deathmatch] Invincibility will now be removed instantly when engaging in combat (firing a weapon, throwing grenade etc.)
  
• [Team Deathmatch] Hotkey for player reports is disabled for 1 second after death to prevent accidental activation

[h2]Performance[/h2]

• Optimization improvements have been applied to reduce instances of FPS stuttering (hitching) on certain hardware configurations
  
  • We'll monitor the effectiveness of this change and continue to work on additional performance optimization

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
Fixed the following issues:

• Location of teammate's character not synchronized with observer's display in certain situations
  
• Map texture displayed in poor quality
  
• 'Round 3' message constantly displayed and round not starting in Team Deathmatch
  
• Name of Victory dance 12 emote not displayed properly
  
• Visual misalignment on the Blue Zone UI
  
• Visual issue with the background of the vehicle durability UI
  
• PLAYERUNKNOWN'S Trench Coat clipping through the character
  
• All glasses & mask items not being displayed when equipping Golden Dragon Traditional Cap
  
• Titles of all Keys not being displayed correctly in store and inventory
  
• Unable to accomplish the mission 'Reach top 10 after earning a kill with QBZ/AKM' in certain situations
  
• Wrong 4x reticle displayed when using the DP-28
  
• Abnormal Blue Zone sound played in spectator mode
  
• Reload interaction sounds heard differently in FPP and TPP views
  
• Invite friends option unable to turned on in custom matches
  
• Freelook could be used to gain an advantageous view after dying
  
• Sticky Bomb blinking red prior to being thrown
  
• Fixed an awkward crossbow animations in certain situations
  

[h2]Miscellaneous Changes[/h2]

• Sticky Bombs can now be found in Training Mode
  
• Added additional ringtone for the Sticky Bomb
  
• DBS spawns can be adjusted in custom matches

[h2]Survivor Pass: Shakedown[/h2]

• The 3rd track of Survivor Pass missions has been unlocked! The new missions follow an explosive theme
  
• The current season of both the Survivor Pass and Survival Title System will end on April 14 PDT
  
  • Starting April 1st (KST) / March 31st (PDT), there will be a countdown on the Survivor Pass lobby banner notifying players of the pass end date
    
  • A pop-up message will be displayed to users purchasing Premium Pass, alerting them of the time left until pass end
• Premium Pass and Level-up items can be purchased until the Pass period ends

[h2]Skin & Items[/h2]

• 4 new Badlands skin sets have been added, available until 4/15

[h2]Custom Match[/h2]

• Karakin is now available in Custom Matches
  
• Updated Esports Mode preset
  
  • The previous 2019 preset has been replaced by the 2020 Global Esports Ruleset
    
  • Blue Zone settings are identical to 2019. However, item spawn rates have been changed in accordance to each map's ruleset.
    
  • This preset uses the S.U.P.E.R ruleset (Official Esports Ruleset)
• Inner Blue Zone option has been added
  
  • This allows you to create new custom game experiences similar to the Bluehole mode we recently tested in LABS
• Organized custom match presets and added some new ones.
  
  • 'The First Weapon for Your Chicken Dinner' preset has been added
    
  • Drop in with a random weapon set and fight your way to victory, no weapons spawn in the world, although you can pick up the weapons from player death boxes
• [PUBG Partners] Motor Glider and Sticky Bomb have been added to Sandbox mode
  
• Known Issue: Snowmobiles and Snowbikes don't spawn on Vikendi
  
  • This issue will be resolved in next patch

Note: Replays from previous updates are no-longer playable, as the replay system has been updated.

Hello players!

One of the most important elements of Battle Royale is survival, and being the last survivor standing means growing through experience. However, many of you have stated that PUBG also needs to promote the fierce competition between players as they play and win games, and a ruleset to amplify that competitive spirit. For those players, we're happy to introduce the Ranked Ruleset.

A ruleset like this needs feedback though, so like our previous skill-based rating test, we're looking to PUBG LABS to gather your feedback as quickly and efficiently as possible.

During this LABS test, we'll be analyzing the data and your feedback to better understand what our players are enjoying and will adjust the ruleset accordingly before we take it live.

Now, let's take a look at the details of the Ranked Ruleset and when you can get in and try it out!



Test Goals & Expectations

The Ranked Ruleset test aims to merge the strengths of both public and esport ruleset settings to build a new ruleset specifically made for competitive play. We hope this adds some additional tools for players to be competitive without it being too jarring for players coming from normals.

The Ranked Ruleset test will be available in both FPP and TPP mode and maps will be chosen randomly from Erangel, Miramar and Sanhok. The number of players will be reduced to 64 as well.

Other changes of the ruleset are as below.

Loot Spawn Adjustment

For an environment like this to thrive, players need access to the right tools to be competitive. Therefore, the item spawn rate on all 3 maps has been set higher than that of normal Battle Royale games. In addition, the spawn rate of preferred items such as primary weapons, Level 2 equipment, 4x scopes, and First Aid Kits have been increased to make for a more competitive environment. Players will still have to loot several areas in order to be fully equipped, but should be going into firefights with at least a start on their final loadout.

Blue Zone Balance Adjustment

To help keep the fight moving with fewer players, the Blue Zone will also have a few changes from normal games. The first safe zones will be similar to that of public matches, but the tempo will grow faster as the game continues to force more confrontations as the player count drops. The goal of these settings is to allow players to test their skills in a more tense environment than in traditional public matches.

Other Adjustments

The starting plane's flight path is more likely to fly closer to the first safe area.

Vehicle spawns are same as the normal games, but the Motor Glider is temporarily disabled until we can put more thought into if it is right for competitive game play. Your feedback here would be welcomed as well!

Red Zones have been adjusted to act as an additional threat for out of position players and are much more likely to occur at the edge of the safe zone.

We've decided to keep Flare Guns in for now as they provide a strategic choice between Care Packages and the BRDM-2. If this item sways competitive games too heavily, we'll look to adjust or remove the Flare Guns.

For this test, players will unfortunately not gain BP or Survivor Pass XP for Ranked Ruleset matches due to them being in LABS.
Test Schedule

The Ranked Ruleset will be available in the LABS section of the menu during the dates listed below. For easy access, we've added a LABS banner above the start button!

Start: March 6th - 16:00 KST / March 6th - 0700 UTC
End: March 9th - 16:00 KST / March 9th - 0700 UTC



Feedback

Feedback from this test will help us determine if it is right for our upcoming Competitive Mode or whether we need to make some adjustments, so be sure to share your thoughts on what you do and do not like. While we’re not quite ready to dive into the specifics of the upcoming Competitive Mode, keep an eye out for another announcement with more details in the coming months.

Thanks for playing!

- PUBG

Hello Players!

At the beginning of Season 6, we announced that Vikendi was going on a little vacation while we debuted Karakin. Since then, we've given some of Vikendi's landmarks a revamp, modifying terrain, towns, weather, updating Dinopark, and adding new trains that travel around the map! We want to hear what you think about the changes and also collect your feedback early while we apply the final coats of paint to our icy Battleground, so we're giving you the opportunity to playtest the new map early with help from our official PUBG Partners!

• New railroads and trains have been added across Vikendi
  
• A large portion of Vikendi's snow has been removed or reduced
  
• Dinopark has been expanded to Dinoland
  
• Modified towns and terrain.
  
  • Dinoland
    
  • Abbey relocated to Mount Kreznic
    
  • Removed: Tovar, Movatra
    

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


We're giving PUBG Partners the first chance to test out the updated map with their community. Our partners will have exclusive access to the updated Vikendi in custom matches on the PUBG Test Server and will be hosting games for you all to jump into and try. Best of all, player and partner feedback collected during the test period will be delivered directly to the devs, so make your voice heard and let us know what you think!

Mar 6th (Fri) 1600 KST / 0800 CET/ Mar 5th (Thu) 2300 PST ~ Mar 9th (Mon) 1600 KST / 0800 CET / Mar 8th (Sun) 2300 PST

1. Log in to the PUBG Test Server
   
2. Join your favorite PUBG Partner's custom match
   
3. Play the updated map and send in your feedback
   

This is your chance to help shape the map, so please do not hesitate to let us know what works, what doesn't, any bugs you find, and whatever else you'd like to see! We're looking forward to hearing your impressions.

See you on new Vikendi!

--The PUBG Team

Hello players,

We know the last few months have had some ongoing issues impacting gameplay and wanted to take a moment to address everything. We know the below issues have been extremely frustrating to deal with and we're sorry they've persisted for so long.

First of all, we want to give a brief statement on cheating. Combating cheaters is one of our highest priorities and we're utilizing multiple internal teams and external resources to find new solutions for this problem. We’ll be sharing more information regarding these efforts in our upcoming Community Letter and 2020 Roadmap post in early March.

Now let's talk about some of the issues, why they've remained such a problem, and what we're doing about it.

Poor Performance (FPS), FPS Stuttering/Freezing & Crashing Issues

We've received lots of feedback regarding performance issues, including FPS drops, stuttering, and crashing and despite these efforts, we've found that performance issues and crashes have been increasing since the January update.

Our development team is conducting ongoing multi-faceted tests and analysis in an attempt to identify and resolve the issues causing this performance loss and causing game crashes. The difficult part is that some of these issues are impacting specific hardware, or happen in unique situations which are difficult to reproduce. To improve performance issues, which have to track down the specific cause, which often means needing to reproduce the specific steps leading to the issue. We want to thank all of you who have sent in your replay files and system data to help us as we try to identify the cause.

If you are experiencing performance drops, FPS stutter, or game crashes, please contact our support team at www.pubg.com/support and share whatever information you can regarding your PC hardware and any other information you believe is relevant.

This is a top priority for us right now and we thank those of you who are affected for your patience.

DDoS Attacks Against our Game Servers

As many online games are forced to deal with from time to time, our servers have been the target of intermittent DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks. When a game server is under attack by DDoS attacks, all players who are in the server almost certainly face connection issues such as network delays, a significant ping increase, and severe packet loss. Unfortunately, our servers have been increasingly targeted for these attacks. Last November, the intensity of the attacks increased to a level we hadn’t experienced before, which increased again in February.

Our dev team has been increasing our DDoS defense solutions, working with various server infrastructure providers and analyzing their effectiveness in order to protect our game servers and provide a more stable service. At the same time, we're working on our own defense system specifically designed to protect PUBG's game servers.

While testing various DDoS defense solutions from external infrastructure providers, server locations were often located far away from standard locations, which resulted in increased ping and other network issues for some players. Additionally, many players have suffered constant packet loss issues due to the experimental DDoS defense solutions deployed by these providers. We know that we could have been much more open in communicating these reasons with you, but did not want to contaminate tests and results by letting the attackers know we were doing this testing. Regardless, our sincere apologies to players who experienced ongoing connectivity issues during this time.

The good news is, our recently developed internal solution has reduced the impact of DDoS attacks by nearly 85%. This is and will remain an ongoing issue, but our dev team will also continue to work on and implement additional measures to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks when they occur.

DDoS server attacks are a serious crime and we've been gathering all information we can to take legal action against the perpetrators.

Arcade - Team Deathmatch Matchmaking Issues [Mostly Resolved]

Team Deathmatch is PUBG’s first "Arcade" game mode and we've been thrilled to see such a great response so far. Unfortunately, we found some issues with TDM matchmaking that caused players to have extended matchmaking times or sometimes not be matched at all. Additionally, another issue was identified that sometimes caused teams to have more than 8 players, with less than 8 on the other team.

The team in charge of this mode analyzed the cause of these issues after they were reported and worked to deploy a hotfix to the issue affecting team size, which is now resolved. The issues related to matchmaking times currently remain and while we've improved the situation with some back-end improvements, we're actively working on a permanent solution.

While we continue work on this, if you experience any of the above problems, please let us know through our community channels or PUBG.com/support.

Disabled Custom Match Presets

We've received reports that custom match presets are not functioning properly since the last patch.
This issue was an unfortunate side effect of improvements being made to back-end custom match code. We've taken action to resolve existing saved presets, but it will take time to fix this issue entirely. The good news is that saving and loading new presets now works correctly. Our apologies for those affected by this issue.

Unrelated to custom matches, we've resolved other recent issues such as player stats not being applied properly, inability to create FACEIT matches, and players falling through the ground at a specific location on Karakin.

In Closing

We understand there are many other high-priority issues impacting gameplay. One of our primary goals this year is to be more transparent with what we're working on, so we wanted to get this letter out to you to address some of the more notable issues we've faced recently.

Rest assured, we’ll continue to work on the unresolved issues and will do our best to be more open with details on these subjects moving forward.

Thank you