PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds adds weapon skins, is "considering" region-locked servers
As a means of "improving the gameplay environment".
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has received its latest test server update, introducing new weapon skins and accompanying loot crates, as well as bringing the news that developer Bluehole is "considering" region-locked servers.
Region-locked servers are a long-requested feature, with proponents frequently citing anti-cheat company BattleEye's claims that "the vast majority" of PUBG cheaters are from China.
According to Bluehole, however, it's decision to investigate region-locking isn't related to cheating; rather, it hopes that the move will "provide a better gameplay experience as it will improve network issues and help with linguistic barriers."
Specifically, the developer's new patch notes state that it's "considering [...] operating servers so that only those players who reside in that region can connect and play." These servers will be invisible to players in other regions, although it will be possible to join another region's server when forming a team with someone from a different region.
To that end, Bluehole says "we are going to run a limited test of this approach as more detailed research and analysis should come before global application."
Battlegrounds' newly introduced weapon skins system, meanwhile, is exactly what it sounds like. By selecting the 'weapons' option from the customisation menu, it's now possible to set a preferred cosmetic skin for any of the weapons you might acquire in-game.
Skins will be made available through free, non-random Raider Crates, and through the paid weekly random Triumph Crate. Bluehole says that there's a 20% chance that a paid crate will be one of the new Triumph crates, and it has provided a full list of currently implemented skins, along with their individual drop rates. For Triumph crates, that looks something like this:
- Desert Digital - R45: 15%
- Rugged (Orange) - UMP9: 15%
- Rugged (Orange) - SCAR-L: 10%
- Rugged (Orange) - M416: 10%
- Rugged (Orange) - AKM: 10%
- Rugged (Orange) - Kar98k: 10%
- Gold Plate - Win94: 5%
- Trifecta - P92: 5%
- Desert Digital - Mini14: 4.5%
- Trifecta - Micro UZI: 4.5%
- Gold Plate - Sawed-Off: 4.5%
- Desert Digital - Kar98k: 2.5%
- Trifecta - SCAR-L: 1.3%
- Desert Digital - M416: 1.3%
- Gold Plate - SKS: 0.6%
- Glory - UMP9: 0.32%
- Gold Plate - S12K: 0.32%
- Glory - AKM: 0.16%
Raider crates, meanwhile, will contain the following skins:
- Rugged (Beige) - Crossbow: 20%
- Rugged (Beige) - M16A4: 20%
- Rugged (Beige) - S686: 20%
- Rugged (Beige) - SKS: 20%
- Rugged (Beige) - Kar98k: 6.5%
- Rugged (Beige) - S12K: 6.5%
- Silver Plate - R1895: 3%
- Jungle Digital - P18C: 1.4%
- Silver Plate - DP-28: 1.4%
- Silver Plate - S1897: 0.4%
- Jungle Digital - SKS: 0.28%
- Silver Plate - Vector: 0.28%
- Turquoise Delight - P1911: 0.08%
- Silver Plate - SCAR-L: 0.05%
- Jungle Digital - AWM: 0.05%
- Turquoise Delight - Tommy Gun: 0.028%
- Turquoise Delight - Kar98k: 0.0128%
- Turquoise Delight - M16A4: 0.0128%
- Gold Plate - S686: 0.0064%
Bluehole says that these new changes will be applied to the live servers once the latest test build is proven to be stable. The full update notes are available on Steam.