Following the unveiling of a newclimbing and vaulting featuretwo weeks ago, Bluehole will soon introduce more changes to its popular multiplayer online titlePlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, such as a fix for an item spawn bug, some balance changes to the game’s loot balance system, and two new weapons.
Colloquially titled the “loot balance - first pass” patch, the upcomingPlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundsupdate fixes a bug where some items spawned more or less than intended. While not all items were affected by the bug, Bluehole decided that it was also necessary to adjust some items that were spawning too little or too much for the item’s tiers. The studio states that it intends to continually improve the item looting system on a regular basis, and changes will be based on various data analysis and user feedback.
Beyond fixing the item spawn bug and re-balancing the spawn rate of various other items, the new patch also introduces two new weapons into the game. The first new weapon is called the Groza, which is a mean-looking 7.62 mm assault rifle that promises great stability and stopping power at close to medium ranges. This new gun will only be available via care packages and will replace the suppressed 9 mm VSS sniper rifle, which will now only spawn as a random drop in the game world. Lastly, a second new weapon called the P18C was added to random spawns, which is a 9 mm pistol with a fully automatic mode.
DespitePlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundsstill being an early access title, this new “loot balance - first pass” update will be the fourth monthly patch since the game was launched and the regular slew of updates has undoubtedly played a part in helping the multiplayer shooter sell4 million copies in just three months. With the game scheduled to release at some point in 2017, we can certainly expect that sales number to climb even higher by the end of the year.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Bluehole can keep this momentum up when the full game is finally released, but with regular updates such as the “loot balance - first pass” patch, as well as major content updates like theupcoming zombie mode, it certainly appearsPlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundswill maintain its popularity for some time yet.
