Cheaters Delay 'PUBG' Matchmaking Fixes, New Map

The work is never done for Bluehole, which continues to prevent cheaters from playing the popular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Even with its vigilant efforts on that front, the studio is testing new matchmaking methods and plans to share its development road map with players sometime in March.

The studio initially announced improvements to matchmaking in December. Bluehole specifically said it would implement a maximum ping limit so that all players have a fair shot at the prized "chicken dinner" received for outliving all other players. Unfortunately, the plan never came to fruition because of the ongoing fight against cheaters, which has accounted for many of the developer's resources in the last few months.

Now Bluehole is testing a modified version of its original plan. Instead of imposing a maximum ping limit, players will now be divided into pools based on their ping. Those with lower ping will get priority during the matchmaking process; those with higher ping will have to wait longer to get in a game. That should help reduce the number ping-related problems you experience. Bluehole will test this process in a few regions this week.

The constant monitoring of cheaters also delayed the reveal of a road map of other features and content slated for 2018, which was supposed to be shared earlier this year. Bluehole said that it will reveal its plans for the game in March. What exactly the developer has planned is still unknown, but we do know that Bluehole intends to show off a third map for the game, which should add more variety to the battle royale title.

In the meantime, your version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds should have received an update earlier this week. In addition to a new paid and free crate, the patch removes the ability for you to see inside the plane at the beginning of the match, which is said to improve client and server performance. When you report a player, the developers will also receive a one-minute replay file that shows the crux of your complaint. This new reporting system comes with some restrictions: You can’t use a replay file that is more than a week old, and you can’t use the same file to report a player multiple times. You can read the the full patch details on the game’s Steam page.