PC Update 4.1 Patch Notes - Now on the Test Server

Hello players!

Welcome to PUBG SEASON 4! Quick note before we start! As we take a glimpse into Erangel’s past, it’s the perfect time to talk about the future of PUBG’s seasonal content. Going forward, game updates will revolve around new seasons, which will feature new content, skins, gameplay updates, and Survivor Pass with plenty of missions and rewards to enjoy and enrich your experience on the Battlegrounds. This also means we’ll be naming our updates a little differently. For example, this is the first update of Season 4 on PC, so it will be referred to as “PC Update 4.1” in the patch notes. Season 4 will launch on consoles in late Summer!

PUBG SEASON 4 unveils a stunning new visual update for Erangel and reaches back into the undiscovered history of the infamous island that captured the world’s attention with Battle Royale. Erangel, which has a special home in the hearts of many of us, now features refreshed buildings, upgraded graphics, and some revelations as to the island’s combat-scarred history.

Our Executive Producer, Head of Development Division, TS Jang has made a special message to players to introduce Season 4:

PUBG SEASON 4 is here and holds some of the best updates to PUBG so far. Now, let’s dive into PC Update 4.1!

Erangel Visual Update

“Everyone is searching for themselves. That search ends here. Welcome to the Battlegrounds.”

Since launch, millions of players have dropped into Erangel to take part in PUBG’s heart-pounding take on Battle Royale. It’s with that same passion that we dove into this visual update with the goal of bringing our most classic map in line with our more recent offerings, all without losing the magic that made it a fan favorite in the first place. To the players that helped us fine tune the island during our recent testing, we salute you. This island is your home, too. From standard complexes to major landmarks like Mylta Power, we’ve improved the graphical quality of Erangel’s various areas and terrains across the board.

There are plenty of secrets to find and updated areas to explore once you drop in, but here’s a quick look at some areas with major updates compared to previous versions of the map:

Military Base

Mylta Power

Quarry

Mansion

Prison

Various terrain changes

  • We’ve updated existing terrain, signage, and buildings and have added a small number of buildings to some areas as well.
  • To better illustrate Erangel’s history, terrain elements have been added or revised.
    • Trenches, blast marks, camo nets, and abandoned tanks have been added across different areas of the map.

  • Added barriers along the shore in some locations.

  • Based on player feedback gathered during the testing period, we’ve made the following changes:
    • Grass density and color saturation have been reduced.
    • Overall brightness has been reduced.

Survivor Pass 4: Aftermath

“Explore the Battlegrounds like never before!”

Along with the new season comes an all-new Survivor Pass! Survivor Pass 4: AFTERMATH reveals the past and present of Erangel through skins and items from the island’s broad history. There are over 100 rewards to unlock by completing a variety of missions and leveling up your pass. Brand new to AFTERMATH is the addition of a cooperative mission system where players can work together to complete mission goals and earn rewards. The mission change system has also been improved, allowing players to use BP to swap out more missions than before.

Pick up Survivor Pass 4: AFTERMATH today and explore the Battlegrounds like never before!

Survivor Pass Period

  • Survivor Pass 4: AFTERMATH begins July 23rd PDT and runs through until October 15th PDT ending with the live server maintenance (12 weeks in total).

Premium Pass and Level-up Items

  • The Survivor Pass and Level-up Items will be on sale until the season ends.
    • Level-up items can be purchased in 5, 20, 30, and 50 level amounts and are available in the in-game store.

New Cooperative Mission System

  • Survivor Pass 4: AFTERMATH has a new cooperative mission system that allows players to work together towards milestones and rewards.
  • You can view the mission progression gauge on the mission tab, and receive rewards when each step is completed.
  • There are 5 phases in total, each with a unique reward upon completion.

Improved Mission Change System

  • You can swap out up to 3 daily missions per day for free. BP can be used to swap out additional daily, or even weekly missions.
  • Players who complete all 3 daily missions can use 1,500 BP to get a new set of daily missions to complete.
  • When unlocking new rewards, a prompt will now allow you to go directly to the appearance tab by clicking the button in the popup.

General Mission Details

  • Mission update schedule
    • Daily Missions: Reset daily at 7:00PM (PDT).
    • Weekly Missions: Reset weekly at 7:00PM every Wednesday (PDT).
    • Premium, Season, and Challenge Missions: Available for completion for the duration of PUBG SEASON 4.
  • Premium Missions: These are additional missions for those who purchase the Survivor Pass. Rewards are granted upon completion of a set of missions.
  • Season Missions: These missions are available throughout the duration of PUBG SEASON 4, with 5 mission sets (2 for free / 3 for pass holders) and grant new rewards.

Survival Title System Season 4

“Rise up. Take your time, take chances.”

Survival Title Season 4 has arrived with new season rewards!

  • Survival Title System Season 4 begins once PC Update 4.1 hits live servers.
  • Survival Points (SP) earned from the previous season are soft-reset.
    • Your previous SP is reset, although it’s taken into account when determining your starting SP for the new season.
  • SP gains have been increased significantly in Erangel, Miramar and Vikendi to make SP earned more fair across all maps with a similar time played.

Gameplay

“Equal opportunity looting.”

For PUBG SEASON 4, we rebalanced many of the game’s weapons and vehicles. The patch includes balance adjustments to not only existing weapons and items, but also our first rebalance on vehicles. As always, we will be listening to feedback on the balancing, so please let us know how the all the changes feel together.

There are a whole lot of changes in this patch, so be sure to check out everything below! Because knowing is about fifty percent of the battle.

Weapon & Item Balance Update

Buffs

  • Increased base damage of Kar98k from 75 to 79.
  • Increased per pellet base damage of S12K from 22 to 24.
  • Increased per pellet base damage of Sawed-off from 20 to 22.
  • Increased per pellet base damage of S686, S1897 from 24 to 26.
  • Increased effective damage over distance for all SMGs.
  • Slightly increased damage multipliers for SMGs:
    • Torso 1.05 (previously 1.0), Limb 1.3 (previously 1.25).
  • Increased damage multipliers for Crossbow:
    • Torso 1.4 (previously 1.0), Limb 1.2 (previously 0.9).
  • ADS zoom for default crossbow sight increased by 3%.
  • Laser sight attachment dispersion multiplier for pistols was decreased from 0.5 to 0.3 (non-ads shooting with pistols will now be 70% more accurate when laser is attached).

Nerfs

  • Reduced base damage of M24 from 79 to 75.
  • Reduced base damage of Beryl M762 from 46 to 45.
  • Reduced base damage of AKM and Groza from 49 to 47.
  • Reduced base damage of M416, G36, QBZ, SCAR-L and AUG from 43 to 41.
  • Reduced maximum bullet travel distance of all shotguns from 1000 m to 150 m.

Changes

  • Duckbill attachment now distributes bullets vertically instead of horizontally.
  • Crossbow will now have a visible tracer following the trajectory of the bolt for easier aiming.
  • Added top rail to Uzi to allow Red Dot and Holographic Sights attachments.

Vehicle Balance Update

Buffs

  • Improved handling of RWD vehicles (Buggy, Mirado, Rony, Motorbike, Snowbike, Snowmobile, Scooter, Tukshai).
  • Regular and three-seater motorbikes stabilization improved.
  • Increased maximum speed of Scooter from 90 to 105 kph.
  • Greatly improved handling of Buggy and Increased Buggy’s wheels durability by 50%.
  • Increased max speed of Buggy from 92/115 to 100/125 kph (no boost/boost).
  • Increased HP of UAZ from 900 to 1200.
  • Increased HP of Tukshai from 500 to 1000 as well as increased max speed of Tukshai from 70 to 85.

Nerfs

  • Decreased HP of Mirado from 1000 to 900.
  • All motorbikes will now consume roughly 50% more fuel than before.
  • Decreased acceleration and boost multiplier rate for Dacia. Maximum speed will stay the same.
  • Dacia and Mirado vehicles speed will now be reduced by around 15% when driving on surfaces like sand, mud, grass, dirt.
  • When driving on rocky surface with any vehicle, friction will be decreased by 10% making them more difficult to control.
  • Introduced BRDM-2 specific vehicle damage modifiers per game mode.
    • Increased damage taken in Solo mode by 80%.
    • Increased damage taken in Duo mode by 40%.

Changes

  • Implemented new Buggy and Mirado sounds.
  • Visual effect while using boost has been removed and replaced with high RPM engine sounds.
  • Improved aiming while inside vehicles to be more steady.
  • Improved the FPP camera view inside most vehicles.

New Features

  • Added auto-acceleration to vehicles (identical to auto-run feature)
  • Auto-Acceleration can be activated with ‘=’ key just like auto-run.
  • Added “locking” mechanism to BRDM-2.
  • Only teammates will be able to enter BRDM-2.
  • When all teammates exit the BRDM-2, it will unlock, allowing any player to enter.
  • Added Car Audio feature to play preset music while inside a car.
  • Only the driver can control this feature.
  • Car audio will stay turned on even after players exit the vehicle.
  • Turning the audio On/Off while inside a vehicle will play random music every time.
  • Use F5 key to play or stop the music, Use F6 to change music. The mouse wheel can be used to control music volume.
  • Music will stop playing automatically after a full song.
  • Music can be stopped by destroying or flooding the vehicle.

Healing and Boost Item Improvements

  • Healing and boost items can now be used while moving.
    • You’ll be limited to walking speed only.
    • Press the use or run/jump keys to cancel healing/boosting.
  • Bandages will now be used continuously until the player fully heals to the maximum of 75% health, or runs out of bandages, without the need to manually use bandages multiple times.
    • Press the use or run/jump keys to cancel healing.
  • First Aid Kits can no longer heal additional damage you receive after the healing starts.
    • Previously, if damage was taken after the 2-second healing period had started, any additional damage received would be healed if the total healing amount was still 75% or less.

Visual Effects Improvements

  • Optimized and reworked the visuals of the Molotov Cocktail.
  • Optimized and improved weapon and vehicle shaders.
  • Optimized and improved Frag Grenade explosion effects.
    • Different effects will be used depending on the surface the Frag Grenade explodes upon.
  • Optimized and differentiated muzzle flash effects for each weapon.

Radio Message Marker Distance Adjustment

  • The maximum range of automatic marker placement using Radio Messages has been reduced from 500m to 300m.

Implemented Solution to Alleviate FPS Affecting Rate of Fire

In February, we announced our plans and begun testing a solution to help alleviate FPS Affecting RoF. From the results of the testing period and after additional development work, we’re now adding the solution to the live server.

  • Weapon rate-of-fire is now less affected by FPS.
  • Improved rate-of-fire consistency at low FPS.

Erangel Blue Zone Balance Changes

We’re making changes to the Blue Zone on Erangel thanks to player feedback and changes in gameplay since the most recent Erangel rebalance. The experimental Blue Zone was trialed on the test server during the Erangel Visual Update, and based on player feedback we have applied a few more adjustments.

  • The size of the safe zone in early phases has been reduced.
  • Blue Zone waiting time in early and mid-game phases has been reduced.
  • Movement speed of the Blue Zone during some mid and late phases has been decreased.
  • Blue Zone waiting time for the final phase has been reduced.

Turntable Added to Erangel

  • Added a new playable Turntable which can be found across Erangel.
    • Turntables are spawned randomly on Erangel. Press the use key to turn the music on/off.
    • Turntables can be destroyed.
    • Music played on the Turntable can be heard by all nearby players.
    • Music will stop playing automatically after one song.

UI/UX

Character Customize Tab UI Update

  • Customize tab UI update
    • Removed sub-tabs and re-categorized various elements under the customize tab.
    • Changed default sorting order of items by quality grade (previously date acquired).
    • Newly acquired items appear first temporarily until the notification is acknowledged.
    • When acquiring new items you’re now prompted to go directly to the customize tab by clicking the button on the popup.
    • New categories added:
      • Vehicle: New vehicle skins have been added.
      • Utility: Inventory is now located in Utility.
    • Menu background and character rendering
      • Effects have been improved to better fit the lobby background.

Store UI Improvements

  • Added the Survivor Pass 4 page, where you can access the pass details page, purchase page, and pass progress.
  • When purchasing an item in the store, you can go directly to the category screen of that item in the customize tab by clicking the button on the popup.

Weapon Mastery UI Improvements

  • Improved UI elements such as icons and other aspects of the layout in the Mastery tab.
  • The Last Match Report notification at the upper right side of the lobby will no longer show if no Weapon Mastery XP is earned in the last match.
  • Time bonus values, which were incorrectly displayed in the match result screen, have been fixed.

Adjusted Plane UI

  • Plane map UI now resizes dynamically when zooming in the map.

Wheel UI Improved

  • Wheel size has been reduced, and its location has been moved from the center to the right side of the screen.
  • Wheel responsiveness has been improved.
  • Mouse direction indicator has been added to the center of the wheel.
  • Removed screen blurring effect around the wheel UI.
  • Order of items inside the healing wheel UI have been changed.
  • Total emote wheel slots reduced from 12 to 8.

Matchmaking System Update

With this update, we made some significant changes to matchmaking. We have been working to resolve issues around extended matchmaking times in some regions and have made a number of improvements to allow players, and the system, to adapt to regionally specific needs.

For more details on the matchmaking system update, please refer to our Dev Letter: Matchmaking System Update.

AS, KR/JP, SEA, EU Regions

Currently matchmaking system is fully functional in these regions without any major issues. The matchmaking system for these regions will remain mostly unchanged. In rare instances of extended wait times, a pop-up window will suggest and facilitate switching to another mode/region for faster matchmaking.

NA Region

Due to some difficulties players have experienced with lengthy matchmaking times, we’ve altered the map selection options available and made some additional changes to improve matchmaking times.

1. Featured Map option + Random Map option

    • A featured map option will be available temporarily with the release of the Erangel Visual Update, alongside the random map option, which is an equal chance of the remaining 3 maps.

  • After the initial Erangel Visual Update release period, the featured map option will be removed, with only the random map option available.

  • In situations of extended matchmaking times, players will be prompted with the option of switching to another mode or region.

2. Preset Match

  • A new match option “preset match” will be provided, allowing players to select the map they wish to play.
  • Random Squad is only available in Preset Match, so you won’t be able to enter these matches as pre-made team.
  • “Preset match” consists of 8 total sessions which include one for each perspective and map in squad mode.
    • TPP / Squad / 4 maps (Total of 4 sessions).
    • FPP / Squad / 4 maps (Total of 4 sessions).
  • There is no lobby in the “preset match”. Once 80 players have joined, players will head directly to the in-game lobby.
    • The session will wait 2 minutes for additional players once the in-game lobby has been created.
  • When the match starts, a new session will be created in the preset match list.
  • “Preset match” uses standard game settings and players can still earn rewards and progression through all systems, as they would with a standard match.

OC, LATAM (SA) Regions

  • These regions have been experiencing a severely impacted matchmaking experience.
  • Only random map selection will be available to help facilitate healthy matchmaking times.
    • Maps are randomly selected with an equal chance among the 4 available.
  • If players experience lengthy matchmaking times due to an insufficient matching pool, a prompt will allow players to switch to another region or mode for a faster matchmaking time.

World


  • Reflecting player feedback, the chance of Moonlight weather on Vikendi has been reduced to the percentage chance it had prior to the recent increase.
  • In celebration of PUBG Nations Cup to be held from August 9 to 11, 2019, at Jangchung Arena, Seoul, we’ve made added various themed elements to the game!
    • PUBG Nations Cup decals, billboards, signs and a plane banner have been added.
    • For detailed information about PUBG Nations Cup, please visit the official PUBG Esports website.

Skins & Items

  • PUBG Nations Cup Frying Pan has been released!

  • PUBG Nations Cup Pan sales will be available from after July-31 live server maintenance, until August 14th (KST).
  • PUBG Nations Cup Pan will be available for $9.99 USD (price may vary slightly regionally).

Performance

  • Map loading speed has been improved.
  • Improvements have been made to reduce instances of hitching/stuttering.
  • Optimized calculation of character movement outside the player field of view to improve performance.

Replay

  • The replay version has been updated. Past version replay files are now unavailable for use.

Custom Match

Observer UI Improvements

  • Observer UI has been improved in the following areas:
    • Killfeed
    • Damage UI
    • Team and player list
    • Name layout and tags

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where map boundary collision could prevent the parachute from deploying.
  • Fixed an issue where smoke grenades could float above the ground in specific situations.
  • Fixed an issue where teammate UI wasn’t displayed correctly in Platoon Mode custom matches.
  • Fixed an issue where Care Packages could fall outside the playable area.
  • Fixed an issue where the exact dropped location of Care Packages could be marked by using markers deployed with the Radio Message system while the Care Package was mid-air.
  • Fixed an issue where players could enter the BRDM-2 at speeds higher than intended, without receiving damage.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause players to receive damage unintentionally when exiting a vehicle in water.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause the R1895 animation to be played on another weapon in specific situations in FPP.
  • Fixed issue where the Extended Quickdraw mag did not properly improve the reload time for the Tommy Gun and Vector.
  • Fixed an issue where players behind walls could be damaged by vehicles in specific situations.
  • Fixed an issue where the reload animation could be cancelled, yet still allow a full reload, when dropping other equipped weapons.
  • Fixed an issue where certain sounds from other players could be heard when observing and switching between teammates.