The PUBG development team have announced a whole host of specific game optimizations targeted at improving the game experience for players.
Many players of PUBG on the PC rightfully complain about the game’s performance. In my own experience, the game often lags during the beginning of the game (where players are most vulnerable) and during dense urban firefights (where, similarly, it’s hard to cover your angles). In those moments, it feels like you’re playing against PUBG itself instead of other players, and that’s a recipe for resentment. In a post from yesterday, the game’s developers acknowledge these problems openly, calling out three major pillars that need to be addressed in the game: performance, server-side optimization, and cheating.
The development team have identified several different factors that are impacting performance for players on the client-side (or on the player’s computer), one of the most notable being that vehicles are producing too many effects, which is causing GPUs to “overload.” I don’t know what this means, but I think it means my wild motorcycle tricks are kicking up so much rad dust that it’s breaking the game for some people.
They’re also looking to optimize animation on players and parachutes to cut down on early game load, hopefully decreasing the amount of dropped frames when lots of players are in an area together. I strongly recommend reading the entire post for a breakdown of all of the optimizations.
For server-side optimization, the developers are committing to optimizing the game’s network code when it comes to players as well as in-game objects. For some reason that I also don’t understand, the devs “believe it will also resolve some abnormal physics affecting vehicles.” If this means that I can no longer launch my friend’s motorcycle into the air by smashing into it with a UAZ, then I’m not sure I want the fix.
The developers are also doubling-down on their anti-cheat efforts by banning accounts, making it harder for hackers to access the game, and taking legal action against those who create methods for players to cheat.
The post ends with some information about Sanhok, the upcoming new map for the game. Alongside an image of a tuk-tuk, they showed off some mossy rocks and a large number of decorative objects that will appear in the map. There is still no release date for that map outside of the test client.