PUBG Cross-Play Now Lets PS4 and Xbox One Users Squad Up

As part of the game’s 6.2 update, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) now allows PS4 and Xbox One users to squad up, making it easier than ever to wreak havoc with friends. Along with PUBG cross-play squads for consoles comes a friends list overhaul which now allows you to search for players across both platforms. You can organize the list by platform, too—perfect for when you only want to play with users on one system. With the new update, those on either console will now be able to join a custom game you’ve created.

Back in October 2019, PUBG Corp added full cross-play functionality to the game across PS4 and Xbox One, but it only allowed users to be entered into the same matchmaking pool, with no option to specifically squad up with players on opposite platforms. As of today, that’s been changed, but the community is now wondering if cross-play will ever be implemented across console and PC. The PC community is massive, with an average concurrent player count of around 250,ooo.

It’s unclear if console and PC users will ever get to play with one another. One of the roadblocks of mixing console and PC players has to do with controller inputs since mouse and keyboard players have an inherent advantage due to its precision. Players using a DualShock 4 or Xbox One controller would technically be at an unfair disadvantage when facing off against mouse and keyboard players. As such, there would need to be some sort of separation of the two input styles, much like other games that support PC and console cross-play (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare being one).

Update 6.2 also includes an 8v8 Team Deathmatch mode, featuring the ability to respawn, and pits two teams against one another for 10 minutes. But that’s not all: There are a ton of new features, balance updates, and bug fixes as part of the game’s 6.2 update, which you can find below:

PUBG Update 6.2 Patch Notes

Gameplay

Grenade Changes

Frag Grenades:
- Vests now mitigate damage received from Frag Grenades, but vest durability isn’t reduced when taking damage from Frags.
  - Damage mitigation amount is dependent on the level of vest worn by the player, with the same % reduction as for bullet damage.
- Frags will deal 20% less damage to prone players.
- Item weight increased by 50%.
  - Each Frag Grenade now takes 27 inventory capacity, up from 18.
- Pulling the pin of a Frag is now louder and audible from further away.
Smoke Grenades:
- Decreased fuse time from 3 seconds to 1 second.
Stun Grenades:
- Increased indirect hit effect radius.
  - Up to 6.5m, from 5.5m.
- Ringing sound now impacts players through walls
  - This matches the Frag Grenade mechanic, although the impact effects a smaller radius.
- Added slight camera shake to players near the explosion.
- Default fuse time mechanic:
  - Stuns now explode 0.7 sec after first impact, or after fuse timer runs out, whichever comes first.
  - Fuse time without cooking has been increased to 5 sec.
    - 2.5 second fuse timer when cooking the stun remains unchanged,
Molotov Cocktail:
- Increased the speed at which fire spreads by 50%.
- Fire can now spread slightly further, with an increased damage radius.
- Changed the way fire spreads around objects. Fire will now more consistently reach the back side of objects (especially thin objects like trees).
- Re-introduced direct damage while standing in fire, in additional to existing damage over time.
  - Players in fire will now take an additional 10 damage per second
- Fire now reaches higher and should be obstructed less by small objects.

Frag and Stun Grade visual effects have also been updated, alongside a more realistic Frag Grenade sound.

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 activating the waypoint mode by pressing (LB: Xbox One / L1: PS4) while the map is open
Press (R-Stick: Xbox One / R3: PS4) to mark Way Points on the map.
You can place up to 4 points per group of Way Points.
Press (Y: Xbox One / Triangle: PS4) 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.

Updated Blue Zone Effects

Adjusted the Blue Zone effects

Distortion effect has been removed
Altered effect where the Blue Zone meets the ground, to more clearly identify the Blue Zone edge
Lowered the top wall of the Blue Zone
Updated visual shaders
Effects will become more intense as phases progress
Changed sounds for entering and exiting the Blue Zone

Parachute ‘Follow’

Added parachute follow feature to help teammates land together
- During the pre-match countdown or before leaving the plane, follow UI will be shown at the bottom left of the screen.
- Hold left on D-Pad to activate follow UI
  - Follow button will be highlighted once follow UI is activated
- Scroll up/down with D-Pad to choose a teammate to follow
  - Teammates that already landed or yourself cannot be chosen
- After selecting a teammate to follow, you can cancel by selecting the follow button on the selected teammate, or holding (B: Xbox One / O: PS4) while actively following a player in your parachute.
- If you’re obstructed by terrain or an object, your follow will be cancelled.

PUBG LABS / Skill Based Rating Test

LABS: Skill Based Rating – Second Test

A big thank you to all the players who checked out PUBG Labs and took part in the first test earlier this year! We’ve poured through all your feedback and other data from the test and have made the following changes:

Players will need to complete 5 placement matches to earn a rank in the new test.
- The highest initial placement rank is Platinum 4 (2,600RP).
The overall algorithm used has been tuned based on data and feedback from the first test.
Assists now influence your rating.
- Assists are considered to be the same value as Kills for the purpose of RP gains and losses.
Any kills resulting from friendly fire will count as negative kills
The maximum amount of RP that can be gained or lost after a match is now dynamic per tier, with lower tiers having a larger cap than higher tiers.
The expected performance of players in the Master tier will now increase at every 100 RP above 3500, making it much more difficult to climb in Master tier the higher a player rises
The highest RP a player can reach is now 5,000.

Test Duration (PTS)

PST: February 19 6:00PM ~ February 26 12:00PM
CET: February 20 3:00AM ~ February 26 9:00PM

Test Duration (live server):

Start: (patch time)
- PST: February 27, 2020 @ 3:00 AM
- CET: February 27, 2020 @ 12:00 PM
End:
- PST: March 12, 2020 @ 12:00 PM
- CET: March 12, 2020 @ 8:00 PM

Survey Duration:

The feedback survey will be live for 1 week after the test is over for players to leave feedback on their experience.
- Start:
  - PST: March 12, 2020 @ 12:00 PM
  - CET: March 12, 2020 @ 8:00 PM
- End:
  - PST: March 19, 2020 @ 12:00 PM
  - CET: March 19, 2020 @ 8:00 PM

Matchmaking

Dev Note: When we introduced Karakin in Update 6.1 we mentioned that we would monitor the impact that adding the Featured Map queue would have on matchmaking times. Unfortunately we found that the addition of the Featured Map queue has negatively impacted matchmaking times, and as a result we will be removing the Featured Map queue and moving Karakin into the Random Map queue.

UI/UX

Key guide text displayed on the starting island has been modified
- It will be displayed in nouns just like other options which have no direct effect on the game play (Map, Mission List, Inventory etc.)
Added brightness adjustment for Karakin.
Xbox players can now leave the squad in the lobby without going into friend tab.
News&Banner UI will show dots at the bottom to indicate how many banners are registered.
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy will be separated on PS4 and added on Xbox One.

Performance

Performance has been improved with additional WorldOriginShift optimizations.

Dev Note: We wanted to take this time to address the crashing issues that some of our players have been experiencing. During our investigation, we found that unnecessary memory was being used. We have optimized in this area and applied these improvements for Update 6.2 which should alleviate crashing. Memory optimization is a top priority which will be continuously worked on as we aim to improve overall gameplay experience for our players. We appreciate all of your feedback and reports. Please continue to let us know if you experience further crashing.

Custom Match

Erangel classic has been deleted

World

PGC 2019 champions and new contents have been added to the hall of fame, Erangel.
- Picture of PGC 2019 champions, Gen.G and 2019 PGC panorama has been added
- PGI key art insignia/banner has been deleted. Gen.G insignia/banner has been added on different location
- Added posters of global events (PAI, PNC, PGC) run by PUBG in 2019
- PGI 2018 FPP champion, OMG’s graffiti has been removed and replaced with 2019 champ, Gen.G
- PGI 2018(OMG, Gen.G gold), PGC 2019 Champion’s (Gen.G) uniform has been added
- The names of champions on the molding has been deleted
- PGC 2019 trophy has been added

Survivor Pass: Shakedown

The 2nd track of survivor pass mission has been unlocked, along with 4 new Karakin exclusive missions!

Detailed list of missions
- Survive for more than 3 minutes in Karakin
- Destroy 2 destructible walls with sticky bombs
- Survive 2 times in the black zone
- Drop on to the landmark area once

Mastery

Weapon Mastery Balancing
- Early levels of Weapon Mastery now require less XP to earn. As a result of this change, players may find that some of their Weapon Mastery levels are slightly higher than before.

Skin & Items

Improved parachute backpack model design

Bug Fixes

Gameplay

After certain steps, the breath gauge recovers instantly when a character comes out of the water
Loot boxes block the explosion of grenades
Issue with care package cannot provide cover from grenade explosion
Headshot blood effects block vision in FPP
When you press the hot key to consume a healing/boost item, several times in row, at the same time you pick it up, the item is consumed without seeing its proper animation

World

Edges of some objects become transparent when close to the blue zone
Overall bug fixes on Erangel and Karakin

Skin & Item

When a female character wearing Rapture Squad Gloves with tattoo sleeve, wrist looks transparent
Visual issue with character model’s arm when wearing the Tenebres Combat Vest

UI//UX

Occasionally in replay, the mini-map won’t display certain players
In replay mode, grid lines of world and mini maps are displayed based off of 8×8 maps

Sound

The explosion SFX for the Sticky Bomb is louder than intended

Known Issue

There’s an issue where the bluezone size does not sync with the actual bluezone size in the match when the bluezone is decreasing while viewing deathcam. This issue will be fixed when the patch goes up on the live servers.

[Source: PUBG Corp]