Bots are joining PUBG public matches on console in an effort to bridge the gap between veterans and new players, PUBG Corp. announced today. This change is designed to help new players hone their skills without being dominated by experienced competitors. But a lot of the PUBG console community isn’t happy with the change.
PUBG Corp. explained in a blog post that the skill level of the player base has continued to grow throughout the last three years and that new players are having a hard time keeping up. The company’s data shows that many new players will often finish games with zero kills and no damage dealt. Bots will give new players the opportunity to learn the game mechanics and become better without having to face savvy veterans in their first match.
Most players are aware that bots can negatively impact a game, so PUBG Corp. provided a breakdown of how they’ll function. The bot’s movement is controlled by navigation meshes, which are boundaries that they’re designed to move within. This prevents bots from falling off cliffs or other obstacles and allows them to find the shortest routes to other locations. These navigation meshes will keep the bots from walking around aimlessly or becoming more of a distraction than a threat.
The bots will also consider bullet physics when shooting, which means players can dodge their bullets like they would in a fight against a real player. PUBG Corp. reassured players that the bot’s accuracy will differ based on range and that they shouldn’t be able to one-shot players from crazy distances.
PUBG Corp. also explained how the bots will loot and what players can expect them to be carrying at various points of a match.
“Our analysts and game designers went through lots of data from our live servers to not only see what players generally loot, but to see what types of items players usually carry into each phase of a match.” PUBG Corp. said. “With this data, we’ve set loot targets for our bots, so that the loot and have the appropriate items for each phase.”
This design feature should ensure that bots will have the appropriate loot at any given time of a match and not disrupt the balance of the game.
Even though bots are being introduced to public matches, PUBG Corp. confirmed that experienced players will encounter less bots because of their higher MMR. They also confirmed that the Ranked system coming next month won’t have any bots and that this is only the first iteration of these virtual enemies.
Despite PUBG Corp.’s reassurances and promises that this won’t negatively impact gameplay, a lot of fans reacted negatively to the news. Some players believe this will ruin the experience and water down the exciting gameplay, while others are worried about the bot’s performance.
Fortnite introduced bots into public matches last year with mixed results. Some bots are easy kills for players learning the ropes, while other bots seem to be the best players in the world. PUBG console players will get their first taste of bots with the 7.1 update.
