A brand new PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS update will begin deployment later today (December 9), taking the game to version 15.1 with plenty of new features and changes.

Unfortunately, the release of update 15.1 means that the game's servers will be taken offline for an extended period of time. According to the

" rel="nofollow">PUBG Support Twitter account, servers will be down for 7 hours before patch 15.1 is deployed.

In the meantime, players can check out the full server maintenance schedule and patch notes for the December 9 PUBG update below.

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PUBG Server Maintenance Schedule (December 9)

As mentioned previously, the PUBG servers will be offline today for a total of 7 hours whilst the developers perform routine maintenance and deploy patch 15.1.

Players will be unable to log in to PUBG from 8PM PT / 11PM ET / 4AM GMT until 3AM PT / 6AM ET / 11AM GMT. Following the completion of the server maintenance, a new patch will be deployed for all players to download and install. Full patch notes for the December 9 PUBG update can be found further down this article.

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PUBG 15.1 Patch Notes

Below you will find the official patch notes for the December 9 PUBG update, which brings the game to version 15.1.

NEW VEHICLE: MOUNTAIN BIKE

SPECIFICATIONS

  • Maps: All maps in normal matches
  • Spawned in a folded form.
  • Unfold it into a rideable vehicle or store them in inventory.
  • Folds back into an item when stored back into the inventory.
  • Due to the absence of a speedometer, the current traveling speed is not displayed.
  • Does not spawn in Esports Mode.
  • Maximum number of passengers: One
  • Maximum speed:Max speed without sprinting (85% Force applied to pedals): 50 km/h
  • Riding with 40% or more Boost (90% Force applied to pedals): 54 km/h
  • Riding with sprint tapping (100% Force applied to pedals): 62 km/h
  • HP: Cannot be destroyed, including the wheels
  • Item weight: 70
  • Fuel consumption: None

SPRINTING

Like in real life, you can sprint on the Mountain Bike by putting in some physical effort to mash the A (Xbox & Stadia)/Χ (Playstation) button repeatedly to cycle faster. Being boosted makes it easier to reach max sprint speed. Higher tapping speeds increase sprint speed.

JUMPING

Additionally, you can put your BMX skills to the test by jumping with the Mountain Bike. Holding the LB (Xbox & Stadia)/L1 (Playstation) button longer (up to half a second) will increase jump height. High speed and being boosted also increases the jump height.

WHEELIES

We hipsters don’t ride on two wheels. We don’t find the need to use all wheels because it just ain’t cool! One, that’s right, one wheel is all we need. Try to find the perfect balance by holding the “sprint” button and tapping “jump” in rhythm to find the hipster inside you.

WEAPON BALANCE UPDATE

As a battle royale game where every match presents different situations, we believe each weapon category should have its purpose in certain types of encounters. Based on our data findings and community feedback we have made weapon balance changes.

P90

  • The P90 is making the most kills of any Crate weapon and is performing better on ranges where we want Crate ARs to dominate. So we decided to increase the recoil difficulty while supplying less ammo.
    • Increased horizontal and vertical recoil
    • Increased ADS deviation during full-auto burst
    • Lowered Care package ammo from 250 -> 200 bullets

SHOTGUNS

  • The Shotguns in Battlegrounds continue to have a very limited role as seen in our data, to improve their usability we are increasing the effective range.
    • Increased damage drop-off range to improve effective range by several meters per shotgun
    • Increased hit probability on short range
    • Increased Sawed-Off damage by 1
    • Decreased Sawed-Off pellet spread

LMGS

  • LMGs in general are not considered useful enough based on our data, so we are slightly increasing their damage potential to improve the weapon’s role. For MG3 we saw very little usage in our data compared to the other crate weapons so we are making it more powerful.  Also, some time ago we nerfed the effectiveness of the M249 on Console. We now see that that nerf has had too much effect and thus we are changing its recoil to a state in between the current and previous iteration.
    • Reduced recoil when shooting in crouch and stand
    • Increased Body Damage multiplier from 1.0 to 1.05
    • Increased M249 damage by 1
    • Reduced Horizontal & Vertical Recoil for M249
    • Increased MG3 damage by 2
    • Decreased MG3 horizontal recoil

SMGS

  • While some players feel that SMGs have a strong position due to their relatively low recoil, we still see in data that their role in weapon balance is very limited. To incentivize more accurate firing we are increasing the Head Damage multiplier. 
    • Increased Head Damage multiplier from 1.8 to 2.1
    • Increased PP-19 Bizon weapon accuracy during ADS full auto firing
    • Decreased UMP45 Damage at longer ranges
    • Decreased UMP45 weapon accuracy during ADS full auto firing

AUG

  • The AUG seems to be overtaken by the P90 and even by the user’s ability to control the Beryl, thus we are making it slightly more powerful to improve its Crate weapon status.
    • Increased damage by 1
    • Increased damage drop-off range to improve effective range

MAGAZINE BALANCE

Based on our data over the years, we see that magazines in PUBG have not been very equally balanced. The Extended QuickDraw magazine offers an obvious upgrade over the Extended and QuickDraw magazines. The QuickDraw magazine is often left aside with players not even bothering to pick them up despite their advantage over having no magazine attachment at all.

We have tweaked our magazine attachments to add tactical decision-making and to improve the usefulness of the QuickDraw Magazine and Extended Magazine. Now every magazine attachment will be useful and offer its own play-style.

If you want to have up to 60% faster reloads, take a QuickDraw Magazine. If you want to have the highest magazine capacity, take an Extended Magazine. If you want to have a bit of both, take an Extended QuickDraw Magazine.

Example when applied to M416:

  • Default Magazine: 30 bullets
  • QuickDraw Magazine: 30 bullets and 60% faster reload
  • Extended Magazine: 42 bullets
  • Extended QuickDraw Magazine: 40 bullets and 15% faster reload

SKORPION

  • We have added the QuickDraw Magazine Attachment to the Skorpion.

WORLD UPDATES

SANHOK UPDATE

  • Bootcamp
  • As being one of the most hottest drop zones in Sanhok, Bootcamp should be able to provide dynamic gameplay experiences. But we’ve been hearing that our players were not enjoying the reworked Bootcamp as the structure felt too crowded and complex for desirable tactical plays. Therefore, we decided to make Bootcamp undergo another big change and the best way to go at it was to shift the whole structure. Here are some of the main changes:
    • To reduce the complexity and bunched-up feeling of Bootcamp, the central tower has been repositioned from the center to the right. We have then considered different angles and distances and adjusted the layout of the other buildings around the center area to provide an open space for better shooting.
    • Players seemed to have too much of an advantage behind the parapet walls on the third floor of the central tower so we got rid of them and instead placed boxes made of stone on the rooftops.
      • We also narrowed the space between the second and third floor to reduce the advantage players had on the third floor.
    • We realized that the large windows on the second floor of the central tower were allowing a wide view of players’ surroundings which resulted in frequent camping. Thus, we have shrunk the size of the windows.
    • Training areas have been added and scattered around the center as well to provide more cover and looting spots.
    • We moved the watchtowers to place one each in the north and south to prevent players from hoarding them.
    • Players didn’t seem to have the best opportunities when they land a little late on Bootcamp. Therefore, we removed the 4 warehouses within Bootcamp and added 3 to the North (outside of Bootcamp) so even players who start late could earn a better chance at arming and hiding.

SHORELINE

  • Players felt vulnerable around the shoreline areas so more rocks and trees have been added.
  • Weather
    • The lighting and weather effects in Sanhok seemed to be hindering our players’ in-game sight, so we:
      • Increased brightness by 25% for Clouds and Sunset weather.
      • Decreased darkness from 66% → 33% when it turns Foggy/Rain during Overcast weather.

VIKENDI UPDATE

  • KAKAO FRIENDS
  • PUBG’s new collaboration is with KAKAO FRIENDS!
    • More information on this collaboration will be updated in a separate announcement on the day the Live Server gets updated.
    • Dinoland has transformed into KAKAO FRIENDS LAND.
      • KAKAO FRIENDS statues have been positioned here and there in KAKAO FRIENDS LAND.
    • Billboards for KAKAO FRIENDS have been added.
    • Buildings have been decorated with KAKAO FRIENDS ornaments.

CHRISTMAS

  • Christmas theme has been applied to Dinoland, Castle, and Winery.
  • Christmas weather has been added.
    • Players can use this weather setting in Custom Matches for Vikendi.

For more details on the December 9 PUBG update, including Ranked Changes and Bug Fixes, visit the game's official website.