PUBG Follows Apex Legends And Fortnite, Adds Ping System
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. In that case, Apex Legends should be incredibly flattered. The game first saw its 'ping' feature implemented by Fortnite just weeks after Apex dropped. Now PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is the latest battle royale game to add some sort of ping functionality.
VG247 is reporting that, in the game's latest test server update, PUBG has added a "ping and radio communication system" that takes a lot of cues from the ping system found in Apex Legends. It seems this new PUBG feature enables players to point out helpful items to teammates, such as guns and ammo, and will also allow players to tag the location of an opponent for their squad. When Apex Legends introduced this feature, it suddenly became indispensable; something every battle royale game should have. We wouldn't be totally shocked if every game in the genre has a ping system at some point, and we're not shocked that PUBG has one now.
That's not all PUBG is adding, by the way. VG247 is also reporting that the game now lets you grab ledges in order to scale walls, similar to the mechanic found in Apex Legends and other shooters. This is typically called 'clambering', and will definitely make traversal inside the game feel a lot more fluid. No more running around walls or hoping you can leap small obstacles in your path! And don't look now, but there's a brand new Deagle spawning inside PUBG. This Desert Eagle is now the most dangerous pistol in the game (in terms of damage), and could be seeing a lot of use very, very soon.
All other updates aside, we're really looking forward to seeing how the PUBG community reacts to the new ping system. Ping really changed the battle royale game in terms of making it easier to play Apex Legends while matched up with total strangers. It seems to be doing the same for Fortnite, perhaps to a lesser degree. If we can jump into a PUBG match with a squad of randos and at least feel a little competitive against full stacks, that'll be enough for us to consider the feature a success.
We'll keep an eye out for news on when PUBG's ping feature might see a wider release.