The PUBG devs are taking a more methodical approach to significant weapon balance updates. With the release of update 28.2 on March 13, what the devs describe as a “complete SMG rebalance” will go live in Arcade mode. Between now and June, the developers will analyze gameplay logs and listen to community feedback to make changes before it gets implemented for Normal/Ranked matches in June.
The gunplay part of the dev talk starts at around 4:00.
So, what’s the goal for weapon balancing in 2024? The developers acknowledge their goal “is to change and rotate the gunplay meta,” they also know that gunplay is the main pillar of PUBG’s gameplay. Moving forward, they don’t want to make huge changes without involving the community. And what they said today sounds like they are backing it up.
But they also mention gunplay updates will roll out every two months. Besides the SMG rebalance in June, they touched on buffs coming to the SCAR-L and ARM, along with “nerfs to powerful weapons as requested.”
No details on which weapons could see a nerf, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Dragunov get its headshot multiplier tweaked. I’m not sure what else they could look at except maybe the Beryl again. But I wouldn’t expect any crazy changes to it.
There will be three months from the time we see this SMG rebalance until it hits the regular Battle Royale modes. That beats the most recent shotgun changes that were dropped in our lap earlier this year. It makes you wonder how much they are changing with the SMGs to warrant a three-month period to review gameplay and get community feedback.
The team at PUBG also promises more communication on what they are looking at when adjusting weapon balance and why they are ultimately making certain decisions. I’m always on board with devs explaining what’s going on behind the scenes. It can go a long way towards tamping down overreactions when devs are clear on why they are making changes.
The 2024 roadmap covers many new features, including destructible environments, changes to bots, tweaks to map rotations, and more.