PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS News

The final day of PGC Semifinals called Groups A and C to the stage. It was nonstop action and jaw-dropping surprises as teams made their final plays toward the Grand Finals in Oakland.

Did That Just Happen?

Match 6, Miramar, everyone was already making airport jokes at the expense of Faze Clan who had been unrecognizable in the Semifinals up until this point. By the middle of this now infamous Match, it became clear Faze was not only awake, they were ravenously hungry. They bought themselves a ticket to Oakland by serving up an 18 kill Chicken Dinner at the last possible moment. The possibility of last minute ascension like this is one of the staples of PUBG esports that keeps fans coming back for more!

A Lesson In Real Estate With Lazarus
An NPL favorite, Lazarus finally came through on day three of Semifinals by taking the first Dinner of the day for themselves. Lazarus behaved like real estate tycoons grabbing high value positions and highly sought after loot. For Match 1, not only were the circles in their favor but a crate landed in their lap as well. On the flip side, Faze Clan seemed to have the opposite luck as they had to put in serious mileage just to stay in the game. Watch as Lazarus uses their position to take deadly advantage over Faze:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Oakland Bound

PGC Grand Finals will show an interesting mix of the usual suspects and a slew of dark horses. With favorites like Liquid out and Faze showing up late to the party, room has been made for upstarts like Lazarus, The Rumblers and WClick. There’s no ignoring the power of PCL teams like 4 Angry Men who are a force of deadly nature and everyone knows it. Same goes for QM Gaming who crept their way through Semifinals with stealth and focus. PEL’s big hitter, TSM, has been an intimidating presence from the start of PGC and is a big fan favorite to win, but also a big target for their competition.

At this point, these teams have had a lot of face time with each other. The key now is for teams to study not only their competition but also their own playbooks. They will have to decide if they should shake up their routine to throw opponents off or stay the course with what they know works.

Match Winners
Match 1 (Erangel) – Lazarus
Match 2 (Erangel) – QM
Match 3 (Erangel) – QM
Match 4 (Sanhok) – Tempo Storm
Match 5 (Miramar) – Lazarus
Match 6 (Miramar) – Faze Clan



Grand Finals are almost here! Tune in to see the best PUBG players in the world fight to be Global Champions at watch.pubgesports.com!

If you’re enjoying The PGC action and want to see The Grand Finals live, tickets are available! Ticket holders who attend the Grand Finals at Oakland Arena receive a full set of PGC skins!

The PGC Semifinals were in full swing for fans in Manhattan Beach with Groups B and C taking to the Battlegrounds. Lots of unexpected moments and sizeable rank shifts made today a must watch!

Four Angry Men Walk into a Semifinal…


There was no denying the OGN Super Arena had its fair share of Four Angry Men (4AM) fans today and they were not disappointed. 4AM took firm control over Erangel and won both Matches 1 and 3. Throughout the day they were turning in consistent, kill heavy performances, leaning heavily on adaptable map control. The Blue Zones were not always in their favor but they managed to make lemonade out of lemons while turning the rest of the leaderboard sour.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Infantry Comes Alive

So far, Infantry Clan have kept themselves relatively under the radar by not making a whole lot of noise. Today they rearranged that narrative by taking the win in Match 2 on Erangel, the map 4AM otherwise dominated. Infantry ended up going head to head against North America’s Rumblers and managed to get the better of them both times. IC’s efforts managed to put them in 8th place. Keep in mind Infantry Clan in Group B and, as mentioned earlier, there are no more chances for them to make their play for the Grand Finals.

Full House Of talent


Today saw a lot of teams coming out of the shadows to show PUBG fans they earned their PGC spots. VC Gaming maintained a strong presence today which included two wins including Match 4 on Sanhok where they had to finish off WClick who were making serious moves today.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

WClick is one of two Latin American teams on the battlegrounds for PGC and they pushed themselves upward in the ranks by circling in the top five all day. PKL’s OGN Entus Force was in fine form today with conservative land grab tactics keeping them in control.

Group B Takes A Seat

Since Group B played on Day 1 against Group A, today was the last day for them to make their case for their Grand Final spots. Up next is Day 3 of the Semifinals where it’ll be Group A and Group C finishing off this round of the PGC. All Group B can do is watch and hope that the performances they left on the battlefield the first two days will be up to snuff.



Match 1 (Erangel) - 4AM
Match 2 (Erangel) - Infantry Clan
Match 3 (Erangel) - 4AM
Match 4 (Sanhok) - VC Gaming
Match 5 (Miramar) - OGN Entus Ace
Match 6 (Miramar) - VC Gaming

Tune in to watch.pubgesports.com tomorrow, November 17 at 5:00 p.m. PT for last day of the PGC Semifinals.

If you’re enjoying The PGC action and want to see The Grand Finals live, tickets are available!
Ticket holders who attend the Grand Finals at Oakland Arena receive a full set of PGC skins!

Today was the start of the PGC Semifinals with Group A and Group B delivering a thrilling day with heart thumping action.

Focused And Fearless

TSM made it known they were just getting warmed up last week in the Group Stages. By Match 3 TSM had a 10 kill lead and showed no signs of slowing down. They did the bulk of their dirty work early on in the first three matches with Iroh in his element on Erangel dropping bodies with ease. Just like we saw in the Group Stage, they employed greedy and bold tactics, picking a fight with anyone in their way.

Also ending the day on a high note was Na’Vi (Natus Vincere). They took the first map of the day and played very confidently from there on out. This confidence had them going toe to toe with VC Gaming and TSM. After today, Adouzie has several clutch kills under his belt.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Rumblin’ Tummies

The Rumblers came close to Chicken Dinner glory several times today with three second place finishes. “They terrify me, these boys” was how caster Pansy described the sentiment on the performance The Rumblers turned in today. Making news before they even set foot on the battleground, The Rumblers were a last minute invite to the PGC. Their luck continued today in Match 3 with a vicious Phase 2 circle that landed right into The Rumblers lap.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
From that point on, the Rumblers were playing very comfortably while everyone else had to scramble to the zone. Able to make their way out of the madness unscathed was Tempo Storm who ended up in the final throes with the The Rumblers. With a little patience and good rotation, Tempo Storm had their dinner. Both teams had a strong day in their home arena driving NPL fans wild with hype.

Speaking of North America, Lazarus earned some props for this stellar, classic PUBG bridge setup on Sanhok:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Who Owns Miramar?
Miramar is often the map that NPL teams excel on, including Lazarus and The Rumblers. However, the final two wins of the day on Miramar went to OGN Entus Force much to the delight of PKL fans. Take a look at OGN Entus Force’s Indigo in a 1v1 with the fan-favorite from Genesis, Kaymind.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Match Winners
Match 1 (Erangel) – Na’Vi
Match 2 (Erangel) – Gex
Match 3 (Erangel) – Tempo Storm
Match 4 (Sanhok) – Sting Divine
Match 5 (Miramar) – OGN Entus Force
Match 6 (Miramar) – OGN Entus Force

The Semifinals continue November 16 at 5:00 p.m.PT with Group B and Group C in action. If you’re enjoying The PGC action and want to see The Grand Finals live, tickets are available!

Ticket holders who attend the Grand Finals at Oakland Arena receive a full set of PGC skins!

As PUBG grows and develops as a game, it’s important that we also take a look at the older systems that our fans interact with. One such system that we’ve been looking at for a while now is the current crate system. Since PUBG’s early days, crates have been distributed directly or randomly through the BP system, with some then requiring a key purchase to open.

Today we’re going to talk about some changes we’re making to the crate system and how this content will be delivered going forward. First of all, let’s go over the changes.

Upcoming Crate System Changes

• Random Crates purchased with BP will no longer contain crates that require a key to open.
  
  • Locked Crates from Random purchases will no longer be available starting Dec. 18th.
• Crates already in your inventory or acquired via the marketplace can still be opened with the appropriate key, which can still be purchased from the store and can still be purchased or sold on the marketplace.
  
• The new Crate will retain the trade value of the highest tier item; the probability for each tier has been adjusted overall to increase the likelihood of acquiring a weapon of an attractive design.
  

Why change the system?
Through player feedback, we’ve found that more often players do not get enjoyment out of opening crates as they currently exist. We looked at the following information:

The value of marketable loot box in PUBG is solely determined by the users and getting items through the marketplace or selling them back is also part of the PUBG experience. However, the value of the locked crates are very low among other PUBG items. This means that paid crates are not an appealing reward to players, making the experience of acquiring a locked crate less enjoyable.

Patches have been carried out to continuously lower the probability of obtaining locked crates when purchasing a random one and items with special features have been added to locked crates to give them additional value for those who wish to purchase them, but we’ve learned that this issue cannot be completely resolved in this manner. Because of this, we’ve decided to discontinue the release of new locked crates and phase out the distribution of existing locked crates as well.

We have been thinking about this carefully and we want to ensure that we steer clear of revenue models that fail to satisfy fans, especially if they include a low success rate. We will continue to tweak our business model where possible to offer more compelling value for the money you choose to spend with us.

Details of the changes for new BP Crates

• More preferred skins now appear in lower tiers and AR category skins are evenly distributed from top to bottom tiers.
  
• The overall graphic quality of crate skins have been enhanced to ensure that the quality is adequate when compared to the paid weapons.
  
• The quality of the items in the middle tiers of crates was improved and the likelihood of obtaining them was increased by about 20%.
  
• The probability of obtaining the top tier items was increased as well but they will still remain difficult to obtain in order to not impact the market value of the skins or crates.
  

Schedule
11/20

• A new crate, the VENETIAN CRATE, will be released and will be directly purchasable with BP. It and all future crates will be unlocked.
  

11/27

• The direct sale of VENETIAN CRATE will be discontinued, making it only available through random purchase.
  
• The probability of obtaining locked crates through random purchase will be notably decreased.
  

12/18

• Locked crates will no longer drop from random crate purchases. They can still be purchased via the marketplace.
  
• Keys may still be purchased, but only if you have a locked crate in your inventory.
  

Considerations
The Steam marketplace is a component that many PUBG players enjoy, and we are certainly not trying to get rid of it with these changes. New items from future crates will continue to be able to be sold on the marketplace, and no locked crates means one less step a player interested in those items will have to go through.

What’s in the VENETIAN CRATE

We know players have been asking for changes to the crate system for quite some time and hope that these changes prove our commitment to keeping purchases in PUBG a fun and rewarding experience. Whether you play without additional spend, purchase the seasonal Survivor Passes, pick up cool skins on the Store, or open and sell crates on the Marketplace, we want your interaction with PUBG to be worth your time and money. As always, please let us know if you have any feedback on this new system and we’ll see you on the Battlegrounds!

– Sujin Kim from PUBG Item Production Dev Team

Additional changes are marked with * and were implemented mid-update on November 26. View the changes here.

Update 5.2 of the Battlegrounds is here and we’re introducing a new way for you to contribute to the evolution of the Battlegrounds. PUBG Labs is debuting as a new destination for where you can try our latest game modes and help us refine them into greatness.

Also in this update to Season 5, the high speed hijinks continue, but we’re giving players something that’ll cause the competition to see the red of their brake lights with the Spike Trap. Vikendi received a face lift to bring the sniper strategies that are most effective on the map into focus.

There’s a lot to cover this update, so let’s grab some loot, throw our car into gear, and try not to blow a tire as we take a tour of update 5.2.

New Item: Spike Trap

"We almost named it Buffy."

• Spike Traps puncture the tires of any vehicle that runs over the strip of spikes.
  • A Spike Trap can only damage one vehicle before it disappears.
  • Spike Traps puncture the tires of vehicles, but do not damage overall vehicle health.
• Spike Traps are spawned at rates consistent with other throwables across all maps.
• You can lay a Spike Trap by selecting it and pressing LMB. Once you've laid a Spike Trap, you cannot pick it back up.

New System: PUBG Labs

"Ground Control to Major Fans!"
PUBG Labs is a space where we will work with the community and players to experiment with new game modes, rule sets, features and so much more. Your feedback on the systems and tests we carry out on in PUBG Labs will directly benefit the community and grow our perspective on player priorities.

We can't wait for you to get in there and try the top secret action we've been working on.

What is PUBG Labs?

• PUBG Labs is a space where we introduce to you experimental in-game features and collect your feedback to perfect them as permanent game additions.
• You can find PUBG Labs in the menu under the Play button.
• PUBG Labs will continue to be updated with new content. Play modes, new rule sets and maybe even some new vistas to take in down the road.
• The most important for PUBG Labs is your valuable opinions! Please feel free to let our Community Managers know about what you think from your experience.

The upcoming experimental content of PUBG Labs

• Skill Based Rating (PC - Live server: Nov 26 12pm PST / Nov 26 9pm CET / Nov 27 5am KST - Jan 2 12pm PST / Jan 2 9pm CET / Jan 3 5am KST / Console - Live server:  Nov 26 - Jan 6 KST)
  • Skill Based Rating is an experimental feature being tested through PUBG Labs, tracking your skill and assigning you a rating based on your match performances.
  • This Skill Based Rating is separate from the current Survival Title System.
  • Ratings will be applied for each mode based on players’ skill level. To see your rating, you must first play 5 matches.
    • After you finish 5 rating-evaluation matches, your rating going forward will be adjusted based on factors such as kills and overall placement in matches.
  • You can leave feedback about the changes to your rating after the end of each match, so we can gauge how the system feels.
  • For one week after the Skill Based Rating test ends, all players who participated can share their feedback via an in-game survey.
    • Feedback period
      • PC: 1/3 5am - 1/10 5am KST
        
      • Console: 1/7 - 1/14 KST

You can check Skill Based Rating feature on the Test Server now, before it comes to live servers next week.

For more information of PUBG Labs and upcoming tests, please check "Dev Letter - PUBG Labs".

All feedback is invaluable to us. We will review player feedback and analyze data, adjusting the system accordingly in order to make Skill Based Ratings the best they can be.

(UPDATE 12/06) - Based on data and feedback we’ve gathered for the Skill Based Rating Labs test, we have decided to increase the maximum possible rating points earned per match. Points awarded for placement have also been increased and spread out more evenly across all placements in the top 50%. These changes are effective immediately. This should help players get the full value out of their exceptional performances and make their chicken dinners taste extra spicy.

Vikendi Update

"Breathe. Snipe. Repeat."
We love a good Sniper's Duel. With that in mind we've done a clean up of Vikendi to make it more appealing to the Long Gun Hunters in our midst. More vehicles will be appearing on the map to help you lead foot it through the winter wastes, but be on the lookout for Spike Traps in those snow covered hills or the landslide will bring you down.

Improved terrain

• New roads have been added to reduce the difficulty of moving through certain snow-covered areas of Vikendi.
• Along with the roads added, the amount of vehicles across the map have increased and locations adjusted.
• A cold front has moved in and the river around Castle has frozen over to allow you to navigate that area more easily.
• Located at the center of Vikendi, Mount Kreznic consists of various terrain types which are difficult to navigate, due to how steep the mountain is. To improve this, the overall height of the mountain has been lowered. Yes, we shrunk the mountain, but just a bit.
• Vikendi terrain in many areas is very flat, making it difficult for players to hide or take cover when encountering enemies. To improve this, we've added more variance to terrain height  in areas across the map.

Improved towns in Vikendi

• A few of Vikendi's towns were seldom visited due to complex structures or not enough loot. We've made some adjustments to the following areas:
  • Volnova has been reshaped in general. Major buildings and driving routes have been modified.
  • Item spawn counts in Peshkova have increased.
  • Garages where vehicles are spawned in Trevno have been relocated to allow easier escape after looting. So get to stepping. 
• Some buildings have been removed or replaced with different buildings to improve gameplay. The field of vision gained from high buildings has been adjusted, through structural changes.

Improved gameplay balance

• Blue Zone balance on Vikendi has been adjusted so that players can set up strategies using more varied routes.
  • The size of early safe zones has increased.
    • Speed of early Blue Zones has increased.
    • The size and speed of mid and late-game Blue Zones remain similar to previous updates.
  • The randomness of Blue Zone locations throughout the match has slightly increased.
• To reflect player feedback on insufficient vehicle spawns on Vikendi, we've signifcantly increased the overall number of  vehicle spawns.
• The location of vehicle spawns has been modified in accordance to the new Blue Zone balance.

Gameplay

"Connect the dots."

Added the Way Point feature

• The Way Point feature has been added to allow you to make strategic plans for the routes you take.
• You can use the feature only when the map is open (M key).
• Press ALT+RMB to place the first point and while ALT is held, you may click other locations to add more points. You may release ALT to remove the starting point.
• You can place up to 4 points per group of Way Points.
• Press ALT+Del to remove placed Way Points. When you place a new starting point somewhere else, the existing Way Points will all disappear.
• In Duo/Squad Mode, when a teammate places Way Points, they will appear on the map with a Radio Message. You can change the settings to not display the Way Point of certain teammates from the in-game Team Management menu.

Added an auto attachment feature

• A new feature has been added that automatically equips your weapon with the attachments you pick up.
• You can choose from 3 types of auto attachment options. You can activate/deactivate each of them from the 'Settings - Gameplay' tab.
  • Auto equip when you pick up an attachment with F key
    • When you pick up an attachment by pressing the interaction key (F), the attachment is automatically equipped to your weapon.
  • Auto attach when you switch to new weapon
    • When you switch your weapon with a new weapon on the ground, all the attachments equipped to the old weapon will automatically move to the new one.
    • Only attachments compatible with the new weapon will be attached and the rest will go into your inventory.
  • Auto equip when you pick up attachments with the inventory open
    • When you get an attachment while the inventory is open, the attachment will automatically be equipped to your weapon.
    • When you get an attachment for a slot that is already being used, the attachment will go into your inventory.

Adjusted swimming and diving balance

• Swimming speed has increased by about 27%.
• Diving speed has increased by about 20%.
• Breath recovery speed has increased by about 10%. Now it takes 9 seconds for full recovery.
• The maximum diving time has increased by about 33%. Now you can dive for about 20 seconds.

Improved weapon impact sounds

• The sound effects for each type of object being shot have been improved.

Added Option to Rate Match Satisfaction
At the end of each match, you can now rate how satisfied you were with your gameplay experience in that match.

• You can select from three different options: Fun, Average, and Bad.
  
• This is another method we're using to better understand what experiences players like and dislike, as we work to improve the overall gameplay experience for all.
  
• Please give us feedback in-game after each match using this system.
  

Custom MatchFollowing the Zombie Mode presets available to PUBG Partners, new permissions have been given for additional Custom match freedom.Added Round feature

• War Mode / War Mode: Conquest are now available for round play, allowing for multiple match wins before game completion.
• These matches consist of two rounds, best 2 out of 3, or best 3 out of 5 with a feature where players can play on different battlegrounds for each round or switch locations of both ends.
• The ground re-spawn feature updated last patch is also available.

Added the Commander feature

• In the previous version of Platoon Mode, players weren't able to properly receive orders from their platoon leader easily through UI.
• With this update, the player in the first slot of each platoon in the lobby will be assigned the role of platoon leader, whose location and ping will be shared with all platoon members.
  • This will enable the entire platoon to recognize moving/attack/defensive targets, allowing players to experience more strategic platoon combat.
• Commander is able to help allies and interfere with the enemy through the various support requests available in the map UI.
  • Air strike request
    • Commander can spawn a Red Zone at a selected location.
  • Weapon package request
    • Commander can request care package at a designated location.
  • Healing package request
    • Commander can request healing items at a designated location.

Added Sandbox Mode

• PUBG Partners can now create Sandbox Mode matches.
  • This mode provides convenient functions for PUBG Partners to easily experiment with PUBG content.
• PUBG Partners can create Sandbox Mode matches in 'Custom match > Create a match'.
• Sandbox features
  • Invincibility
    • Only available for the match host (PUBG Partners)
  • Spawn items and vehicles
  • Control special features like flying and spawning Care Packages

Added special items exclusive items for custom matches
Added three new items that can be used through the Sandbox feature PUBG Partners have in Custom matches.

• Helmet repair kit
  • Use it to restore the durability of your helmet by a certain amount.
• Vest repair kit
  • Use it to restore the durability of your vest by a certain amount.
• Blue Zone Uplink
  • Set your current location to be within the next safe zone.
  • If you are outside of the current safe zone, the next safe zone will be located as close to you as possible.

Added No HUD feature

• When creating a general Custom match, creators can now control what UI their players see by changing setting in 'Match Setting > Rule Tab > UI Option'.
• Presets are provided for UI mode.
  • All On / All Off / Hardcore / Realistic / No Location Info / No Battle Royale Info / Manual
  • Individual UI setting is available in Manual.
    • Crosshair default /Map/ Player location / Player information / Teammate information / Displaying ID above the head of teammate / Blue zone ends in / Distance and notification text / Kill log / Number of survivors / Compass

Weapon Mastery Added a feature to filter out weapons

• On the Weapon Mastery screen, you can now change the order of the weapons by using the weapon navigation filter.
• You can sort out weapons using the following criteria:
  • Default (alphabetical order) / By level / By damage

Replay

• Old replay videos cannot be played due to the update in the replay system version.

Skins & Items
The following items will be added to the Store after Update #5.2 hits live servers:

• Added 1 BattleStat weapon (MK47)
• Added 2 types of BP BattleStat weapons (MP5K and QBZ)
• Added 1 Madsy belt
• Added 1 Madsy shoes
• Added 15 Twitch Broadcaster Royale items
• Added a new unlocked crate
  • The Venetian Crate contains 17 new gun skins.
  • You can purchase the crate directly with BP through November 27. After November 27, the crate will be available through random only.

Bug fixes
Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where the effect of tire smoke continues to occur if the wheels are broken while the vehicle is moving or stopped.
• Fixed an issue where spectator POV is forced downwards when a character is pushed against an object with a weapon
• Fixed visual issue when picking up Spike Trap in FPP.
• Fixed issue where players could take less damage than intended when hit by a Motorbike.

World

• Fixed an issue where a specific vehicle on Miramar spawns inside an object, causing the vehicle to explode when entered
• Resolved issue with footsteps being almost inaudible on certain carpeted surfaces
  • Please note that in areas where this issue was fixed, the carpet material sound will now be slightly different.

Custom Match

• Fixed an issue where the cloudy weather option is missing on Erangel
• Fixed an issue where the safe zone appears only in a specific location.
• Fixed an issue where the respawn timer stops when the system menu is opened and closed during a War Mode Platoon match
• Fixed issue where boost/heal items were invisible from the observer’s perspective when in use.
• Fixed issue where observer’s Waypoint line markers weren’t visible.
  

Zombie Mode

• Fixed an issue where the description of the survival and annihilation presets are incorrect.
• Fixed an issue where the character will appear as a human when a face item is equipped.
• Fixed an issue where a zombie can respawn on the plane while it's flying.
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect screen is displayed after respawning as a zombie in the Zombie Royale Mode.
  

Survivor Pass

• Fixed an issue where a specific Mk47 Mutant challenge mission cannot be achieved in certain situations
• Fixed an issue where the “Wipeout Squads” Survivor Pass mission incorrectly says it can be completed in duos
• Fixed an issue where incomplete mission indicator displays even when all missions have been claimed

Skins

• Fixed an issue where ancient mummy gloves are not displayed when tattoo sleeves are equipped.
• Fixed an issue where players cannot hear their own footsteps when walking on puddles of water.

 
Store

• Fixed an issue where the first item in an item crate displays twice in the preview screen