Update #27 brings the new MP5K, multiple weapon balance changes, the new Survivor Pass 3: Wild Card and more!

Is it time to revisit PUBG? Quite possible.

Update #27 is now on the PUBG: Test Server and is scheduled to hit Live Servers next week.

This update brings the brand new Survivor Pass 3: Wild Card, with up to 60 rewards available. In celebration of the PUBG 2 year anniversary, we’ll also be adding a free 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CAP to the store. Lots of changes included in this update, many of which were thanks in huge part to great player feedback.

Major changes have been made to the Flare Gun, including quality of life improvements. We’ve added the new MP5K SMG to Vikendi, bumped up the loot on Erangel, made lots of changes to weapon balance, including making the M16A4 stronger, and also reduced aim punch.

MP5K is a new compact SMG exclusive to Vikendi and will replace the Vector on that map.
A high rate SMG, firing at 900 RPM with reasonably easy to control recoil
It has all attachment slots to allow for a tactical stock, different types of magazines, muzzles attachments, grips, the laser pointer and of course scopes
Base damage value of 33

Survivor pass 3: Wild Card

‘Survivor Pass 3: Wild Card’ will soon begin and includes over 60 rewards which can be obtained within the 10 week pass duration. The new pass will include improved missions which will test players skills, an in-game feature which will provide tracking of missions in real-time and even new background music and lobby.

Pass Period

• Survivor Pass 3: Wild Card will run for 10 weeks from March 26 PDT to June 4 PDT

Improved Features

• Press P to view your current mission status (live update of data may have few seconds of delay)

New Missions

• Daily Missions: These missions change daily, so ensure you complete each in time! You can swap out up to 3 missions per day
• Weekly Missions: You will be able to play 10 new missions every week. You can swap up to 5 missions per week for new ones, and expired missions will disappear
• Beginner Missions: Added 10 introductory missions that teach players about various in-game features
• There are additional challenge missions to test your gunplay skills with the following weapons: Tommy Gun, Beryl M762, S686, UMP45, M16A4
• Earn a weapon skin for each weapon’s mission set you complete!

Rewards

• Over 60 rewards total
• New character face & hair items as free pass rewards
• New backpack skins
• Every level of the pass will grant a coupon which can be used in the coupon store to redeem items and random keys
  
  Premium Pass and Level-up Items
• Premium Pass: $9.99 (price may vary slightly depending on your region)
• Players who purchase the Premium Pass will receive a free crate key for the East Erangel Police Crate
• Level-up Items:
  5 Levels $4.99, 20 Levels $17.99, 30 Level up item $24.99 (price mayvary slightly depending on your region)
• Sales Period: March 27 KST 11:00 until live server maintenance on June 5 KST

Gameplay

Weapon Balance

• M16A4
  • When firing using burst mode, the initial recoil has been decreased
  • Increased the range before damage fall-off occurs
    • This will help increase M16A4 efficiency when fighting over long distances
  • Canted Sights and the Tactical Stock can now be attached to the M16A4
  • The Tactical Stock will decrease recoil recovery time, animation kick and weapon sway, while also improving ADS speed and hipfire accuracy
• Vector
  • Vector has been rechambered to use 9mm ammo
  • Magazine capacity has been increased to 19 bullets by default and 33 with an extended mag (was 13/25)
  • Damage decreased from 34 to 31 due to above changes
• UMP45
  • The UMP9 has been rechambered to use 45ACP ammo and is now called the UMP45.
  • Magazine capacity has been adjusted to 25 bullets by default and 35 with an extended mag (was 30/40)
  • Gunshot sounds have been changed to be more realistic
• MK47 Mutant
  • Tactical Stock can now be attached to the MK47 Mutant
  • The Tactical Stock will decrease recoil recovery time, animation kick and weapon sway, while also improving ADS speed and hipfire accuracy
• Attachments Balance Modification
  • SMG and Pistol attachments have been combined and can now be used on both weapon types
  • Bullets Loops for Shotguns, Win94 and Kar98k have been combined into one item called Ammo Loops
  • Holo Sights can now attach to pistols
    • When equipped to Pistols, the size of the sight will be reduced to fit more appropriately
• Hit Area Damage Multiplier Changes
  • Increased SR body shot damage from 110% of base damage to 150%
  • Increased SMG arm shot damage from 120% of base damage to 125%
• Gameplay Balance
  • Decreased the overall aim punch (aim sway) applied when being shot by an enemy
  • First aid kits will no-longer heal instantly after use timer and will instead restore health over a 2 second period
  • Vehicles now block players from receiving grenade damage with a similar mechanism used for other objects. Although, depending on grenade position and trajectory, damage can still be dealt to players hiding behind vehicles.

Item Spawn Balance Modification

Erangel Loot Changes

The overall item spawn rates on Erangel have been increased. Additionally, we’ve increased the spawn rate of some major weapon classes. Please jump in and try the changes and let us know your feedback!

• Increased spawn rate of AR, DMR, LMG and SMGs
• This will improve the item pickup rate of sought-after weapons
  • Total combined increase of around 41%

Due to item changes this patch, including merging some attachments together, there is naturally a gap left in spawns which needs to be filled with other items. Because of this, we have increased the spawn rate of other items evenly. This will also result in a small increase in spawns of high priority items such as ARs, meds etc.

This also means the overall loot for other maps has also increased slightly, although no changes have been made to individual item spawn ratios on other maps.

Flare Gun Balance

We have reviewed lots of player feedback on the Flare Gun since it’s release and are making the following changes:

UI/UX

• Many players felt the icons and on-screen message related to Flare Guns did not match the style of PUBG as a realistic Battle Royale experience. We agree and have removed them
  • Removed the Flare Gun icon from the world map and mini-map
  • Removed the on-screen message indicating incoming special care packages

Sound Adjustments

• As a result of adding Flare Guns, there were many more planes flying by regularly which led to much frustration from players due to both the volume and frequency. So, we’ve made the following changes
  • Altitude of the plane delivering Flare Gun special care packages is now set to 500m (raised from 350m)
  • Subsequently, the audible volume of the planes will now be lower

Adjusted Loot Balance

• Reduced Flare Gun Spawn Rate to an average of 3 Flare Guns per game for all maps
  • We want the Flare Gun to be a rare item with great benefits, but at a high risk
  • Reduced the Care Package contents from 2 sets to 1 set in squad mode, which is the same as solo/duo mode
  • Reduced total Flare Gun care packages available to be called in per game
    • Now only 2 sets of special care packages and 2 armored UAZ can be called in per game total, down from 3

Crosshair UI Improvement for Canted Sight and Scopes

• Added a new crosshair when using the Canted Sight to help players easily identify which scope they have equipped
• When using your main scope, you will see the standard crosshair, with an X shaped crosshair when using the Canted Sight
• Movement Rustling Sound
  • Weapons
    • Separate rustle sounds now play when equipping weapons in your hands vs holstering on your back
    • Identical rustling sound will be played regardless of weapon type
    • With the exception of Pistols, melee weapons and throwables which do not make rustling sounds
  • Sound level balance
    • Rustling sounds of backpacks, costumes, weapons are all identical in both volume and audible distance
      • Even though the audible range of Cloth is same with others, players can feel it sounds with shorter audible range than bag/weapons since cloth sounds are covered up by other sound effects
    • Audible distance and volume of the rustling sound changes dynamically based on the characters movement speed
      • The faster you move, the louder the noise, which can then be heard from further away
    • The audible range of the rustling sound is lower than footsteps

Replay System

• The replay version has been updated and replays recorded prior to Update #27 will no longer be playable
• Revised to include game audio only when exporting movies from Replay Editor
• Added Highlight Replay features
  • Added a feature that allows players to watch multiple highlights by pressing the H key when spectating a specific player during a replay
  • Highlights of the selected players are generated as followed:
    • When the player kills or gets a knockdown on another player
    • When the player is killed
    • When the player escapes the blue zone with less than 5 HP
    • When the player wins a chicken dinner

Performance

• Optimized the Network Debug Statistics UI rendering logic to slightly improve FPS
• Optimized replay recording logic to slightly improve FPS during gameplay

Skins & Items

• A PUBG 2nd Anniversary Cap is now available for free!
  • Players can redeem the cap on the featured and items page of the store
  • This item will be available from March 26 PDT on the live server
    • Availability period: March 26 PDT – April 23 PDT before the live server maintenance

• Item sales for the following items will end on March 26 PDT:
  • Bizon Guerrilla Skin
  • Chinese Streamer Skins
  • East Erangel Police Crates
    • Moved to the pool of random crates

Custom Match

• Removed default (preset) of the feature where players can save location in observing system
  • Removed default location that players could move when using Ctrl + Num button
    • Maintained the feature to save certain location
    • How to use: Save from the desired location by pressing Ctrl + Num button in FreeCam view
• Changed options in Custom Match based on the ‘Gameplay’ changes above
  • Merged attachments for pistols and SMGs into one category
  • Merged bullet loops for Kar98K and Shotguns
  • Changed UMP9 to UMP45
  • Changed Tactical stock option from M416, Vector to SMGs, ARs
  • Added new weapon MP5K