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.
Last but not least, we’ve added a few quality of life improvements to controllers on consoles. We’re excited to implement these changes and hear your feedback, so be sure to jump in!
Check out the patch notes below to get all of the details!
PTS Schedule:
PST: November 18 6pm until live maintenance ends
CET: November 19 3am until live maintenance ends
PTS Settings:
- Region: NA
- Perspective: TPP
- Mode: Solo
- Map: Random
Live Maintenance Schedule:
PST: November 26 12am – 6am
CET: November 26 9am – 3pm
Live maintenance schedule may change. We will update you if there are any changes made.
What is the PTS (Public Test Server)?
The PTS (Public Test Server) is a separate PUBG server that is free for anyone who already owns a copy of PUBG. The purpose of the test server is not just to provide a preview of upcoming features, but to find the issues and bugs we need to solve as soon as possible. To take part in the test, all you have to do is own a copy of PUBG.
All player data, statistics, etc from the test server will not carry over to your live server account.
For Xbox:
You can search and download the “PUBG – Public Test Server” on the Microsoft Store or the ‘My Games and Apps’ menu.
For PS4:
You can find the “PUBG – Public Test Server” in the ‘Purchased’ section of your Library.
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 (Console – Live server: Nov 26 – Jan 6 KST)
- Skill Based Rating is one of the experimental content introduced on PUBG Labs, which is a system that tracks your skill and gives you a rating with each game you play.
- This Skill Based Rating is separate from the current Survival Title system.
- Ratings will be applied for each mode based on the players’ skill level. To check your rating, you have to play 5 placement matches.
- After you finish 5 rating-evaluation matches, your rating will be adjusted based on factors such as kills and your overall placement in the match.
- You can leave your 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 will be able to share their feedback on the system via a survey.
- Feedback period
- Console: 1/7 – 1/14 KST
- Feedback period
You can check Skill Based Rating feature in the test server in advance for a week when test server is opened. For more information of PUBG Labs and upcoming tests, please check “Dev Letter – PUBG Labs”. All of the data and feedback is invaluable to us. We will analyze it and adjust the system accordingly in order to make Skill Based Ratings the best they can be.
Game Play
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 RT(Xbox)/R2(PS4). Once you’ve laid a Spike Trap, you cannot pick it back up.
Adjusted the 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.
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
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 address 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 their locations have been modified.
- 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 that 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.
- To adjust game balance, some buildings in areas of Vikendi have been removed or replaced with different buildings. Also, the field of vision gained from high buildings has been adjusted.
- Vikendi had few ups and downs in its overall terrain, making it difficult for players to hide or take cover when encountering enemies. To improve this, we’ve varied the terrain in areas across the map to make it easier to hide or take cover.
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.
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.
- The safe zone has become wider but the speed of early Blue Zones has increased.
- The size and speed of mid and final Blue Zones have been adjusted to a similar level of the existing ones.
- The randomness of Blue Zone locations throughout the match has slightly increased.
- To reflect player feedback on insufficient vehicle spawns in Vikendi, vehicle spawn counts have been significantly increased.
- The location of vehicle spawns have been modified in accordance to the new Blue Zone balance.
Console QoL : 1st Controller Improvement
“The core of PUBG, Action & Gunplay has become even more dynamic!”
Keep Aim/ADS
- Based on community feedback, we’re adding various controller QoL features.
- While holding Aim/ADS, you will keep your Aim/ADS even if you take an action such as falling, jumping, crouching or prone.
- Example) When moving while holding ADS, you fall down the hill or under the building:
- Before: You must release the ADS button and hold it again
- After: You will continue to hold your ADS as soon as the falling action is finished
- Example) When moving while holding ADS, you fall down the hill or under the building:
- We hope this feature brings more dynamics to gun fight experience.
Vehicle Control on Controller Preset Type C
- Preset C was designed to provide more focuses on gunplay than the other presets.
- For vehicle control, we felt unnecessary to have its own bindings as we couldn’t see any meaningful and evident data which shows any improvement to the gameplay.
- Therefore, we’re changing the vehicle control to the same key bindings as Preset A and B.
In the future…
- We’ll be fixing the problem of not being able to key bind as players want due to controller limits.
- We’re currently testing customizing key bindings while preparing various controller presets.
- We hope to provide this feature during 2020 1Q.
UI/UX
Store UI Overhaul
-
- Store menu’s UI has been overhauled.
FEATURED
- You can check store’s featured products from FEATURED tab.
ITEMS
- You can check all the items sold for BP and G-Coin from ITEMS tab.
- UI has been improved to be more intuitive.
COUPON SHOP
- You can buy items using different coupons earned from various rewards from COUPON SHOP.
ADD-ONS
- G-Coin tab has been changed to ADD-ONS
- You can buy G-Coin and DLC packages from ADD-ONS tab.
- The descriptions are now easier to navigate.
Skin/Item
- The following items will be added to the Store after Update #5.2 hits live servers:
- Added 1 G-Coin BattleStat Weapon (MK47)
- Added 2 BP BattleStat Weapons (MP5K and QBZ)
- Added 1 BP Madsy belt
- Added 1 BP Madsy shoes
- Added a new BP crate
- The Venetian Crate contains 17 new gun skins.
Sound
Improved weapon impact sounds
- The sound effects for each type of object being shot have been improved.
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
World
- Fixed an issue where a specific vehicle on Miramar spawns inside an object, causing the vehicle to explode when entered
Custom Match
- Fixed an issue where Leave button is incorrectly displayed from the result screen
- Fixed an issue where the player count is displayed as 0 from the custom match room selection
- Fixed an issue where the target score from a War Mode tool-tip is shown as 200
- Fixed an issue where a ‘incorrect password’ error pops up when backing out from the private custom match room
- Fixed an issue where the custom match room host needs to press switch team button twice to switch the team
- Fixed an issue where switching team is disabled when pressing switch team button too quickly
- Fixed an issue where custom match remains in the room selection lobby after all players leave the session
UI
- Fixed an issue where players could not move to the main lobby screen when pressing L-Stick during game mode select.
- Fixed an issue where PUBG ID is opened when trying to close the reward pop-up in Survival Mastery page.
Skins
- Fixed an issue where players cannot hear their own footsteps when walking on puddles of water.
