PUBG’s Big SMG Rework Goes Completely Live With Update 30.1

A couple of months ago, we got our first taste of the big SMG Rebalance when it hit the Gunplay Labs mode in update 28.2. Today, these big changes go live across the rest of PUBG (Normal and Ranked modes) with update 30.1. 

Here are the most significant changes:

• Ammo for all world-spawned SMGs (the P90 is not included here) is changing to 9mm. That means the UMP-45 and Tommy Gun will now use 9mm instead of .45. 
• Basic and sprint speed increase by 2.6% and 2.4%, respectively. This is the movement speed when no weapon is equipped. 
• According to the developers, ‘Damage over Distance’ is getting an unspecified nerf for all SMGs except the P-90. “On average, this change will be noticeable at distances of 50 meters or more,” the developers write.

I like the ammo change to 9mm only. I’ve always been a huge fan of the UMP, but finding .45 ammo in the late game was often a struggle. That shouldn’t be as big of an issue since anyone using an SMG will have the ammo you need. Plus, we won’t be counting on random spawns for .45 ammo. 

As for the specifics, several SMGs (MP5K, Tommy Gun, UMP, Micro Uzi, and PP-19) saw increases in damage and decreases in recoil. While they will do less damage at distances greater than 50 meters, they will be even better in close-range fights than they were before. 

Depending on how steep that nerf is at range, I see SMGs becoming more popular, especially if the safe zone centers around a city. It’ll be a go-to weapon when landing in a hot zone. 

The devs are also still open to feedback. “Depending on player responses, a follow-up update for the SMG Rebalance may be implemented within the next month or two,” the devs write in a blog post covering the SMG rebalance. 

Today’s update also brought a couple of more weapon changes to the AUG and Dragunov. The AUG saw small decreases to its recoil stats while the Dragunov lost some of its one-hit potential on Lv. 2 helmets as the maximum distance for a one-shot decreased from 108 to 81 meters. 

According to the developers, tweaks to PUBG’s weapon pool will continue on a “bi-monthly” basis for the rest of the year. “We are planning significant updates across various weapon categories in the future.”