PUBG developer Bluehole has published a flurry of announcements over the past few days, with the headline addition being Update 9’s new kind of spectator mode, which will let you watch the player who killed you as they carry on through the match.
The obvious inspiration, of course, is fellow battle royale rival Fortnite, which has had the same feature since they implemented their own take on the 100-player free-for-all last year.
It’s proven popular amongst Fortnite players, with the system a great fit for the genre – in the same way as PUBG’s own, esports-style replay system has been great for showing up all the near-misses you never knew existed – but it’ll be interesting to see how PUBG’s generally Fortnite-averse playerbase takes it.
The spectating system, though, is only one of a range of changes that are coming to the game. A highlight for regular players will be an apparent fix to the buggy, flipping vehicles that – whilst making for great GIF-fodder – have been known to infuriate drivers by flying off into the air on collision, or just while peacefully driving along the road.
Over the weekend, we also saw the first public trial of the smaller 4×4 map, codenamed Savage, on PUBG’s new Experimental Test Server (not to be confused with the regular Test Server). Ian Higton’s been giving it the once over; you can see his big breakdown of everything new in the video below:
More changes are already on their way to that 4×4 map too – highlights include the return of the foggy and rainy weather system, tweaks to the Red and Blue zones, weapon spawns, and more. Here’s a rundown of all the various patch notes if you’re keen for more detail:
Update #9 Notes:
Spectating Your Killer
- Players can now spectate their killer by clicking the watch button on their match result screen
- If you get killed by the Blue Zone, the Red Zone or from falling, you can spectate the nearest player from your death location
- When the player you were spectating dies, you can continue spectating the killer of that player
- If the player you were spectating gets disconnected, you can continue spectating their killer
- Duo / Squad killer spectating – Same as above but can only spectate the enemy team after all your team members are dead
- You can report a player you are spectating in Killer Spectate mode by pressing R
- If you click Death Cam, you won’t be able to use the Killer Spectate mode.
UI/UX
- The default setting for voice chat changed to “Team Only”
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where vehicles suddenly flip, go flying or come back to the starting point while driving
- Fixed a bug where the IGN of your killer was not shown when viewing Death Cam
- Adjusted the rotation axis for the preview model in customization menu for better usability
4×4 Map Notes:
- Increased the item and weapon spawn rates inside residential buildings and small cabins to improve the looting experience along the outskirts of the map.
- The first blue zone circle will show up right at the beginning of the match so players can plan their strategy before parachuting.
- Blue zone time adjusted to speed up gameplay during the first phase of the match.
- Red zone frequency has been lowered
- There are now fewer explosions inside each red zone. The size of the red zone remains the same.
- Vans now spawn less often. The two-wheeled motorcycle spawns more often. Motorbikes with sidecars have been removed from Codename: Savage.
You can read more on the 4×4 map details in particular, including a full list of the new features, in our guide to the PUBG 4×4 map Savage, plus how to get a map key to test it for yourself, too.