In the recent Baeclast Podcast with Chris Wilson, we asked for people to email us with their feedback about what improvements we could make to Path of Exile to support our colourblind players. We received a lot of helpful insight and are appreciative of everyone who contacted us about this. One of the key pieces of feedback was that while it has been helpful for us to try to modify colours to look distinct from each other, the most effective method is to also ensure that there is a clear difference in shape between elements.

One of the first changes we're making based on this feedback is to add notches to gem sockets that indicate what colour they are. These notches correspond to the layout of the passive skill tree. For example, the blue socket notch points upward to represent the Intelligence area at the top of the passive tree.



We'd love to get feedback specifically from our colourblind players about this but also welcome feedback from all players. We look forward to hearing from you!

We also wanted to remind you that Chris Wilson will be appearing on another community podcast tomorrow on {LINK REMOVED}Ghazzy's Twitch channel alongside fellow streamers {LINK REMOVED}Grimro and {LINK REMOVED}Crouching_Tuna. Tune in on September 1st at 1pm PDT. We've also made a countdown for you {LINK REMOVED}here. We look forward to seeing you there and hearing your thoughts!

Our {LINK REMOVED}Hideout Competition is in full swing, and we've had so many awesome entries so far! We wanted to share a few highlights with you in today's news post. Check them out in the video below!


We hope these highlights inspire you! For more information on the Hideout Competition, you can find the original thread {LINK REMOVED}here. Entries close Sunday the 12th of September at 10pm PDT, so you have about two weeks to get your entries in!

In the last few weeks, Chris Wilson has appeared on two community interviews to discuss Path of Exile and while we recommend watching them in full for context, we wanted to create written reference for a few of the key points that came up.

If you haven't checked them out already, you can find the Baeclast interview featuring {LINK REMOVED}TarkeCat, {LINK REMOVED}RaizQT, {LINK REMOVED}Octavian0, {LINK REMOVED}ZiggyDLive and {LINK REMOVED}Nugiyen {LINK REMOVED}here and the {LINK REMOVED}Zizaran and {LINK REMOVED}Mathil interview here. Chris will also appear on another podcast later this week hosted on Ghazzy's channel {LINK REMOVED}here alongside community streamers {LINK REMOVED}Grimro and {LINK REMOVED}Crouching_Tuna. Tune in on [localTime]2021-09-01T20:00:00+00:00[/localtime] (this is displayed in your local time). We've made a countdown for you {LINK REMOVED}here.

One of the most pressing topics that was discussed during Baeclast is what players should expect in terms of nerfs going forward and whether we would see a continuation of sweeping nerfs as we saw in 3.15. While we do intend to continue to make the campaign (Acts Two through Ten) more challenging, we do not have any other sweeping nerfs planned in terms of game systems and player power, although you should still expect the usual assortment of buffs and nerfs to specific skills.

In 3.16, we plan to further nerf Fortify to bring it in line with its intended use as a defensive tool for melee characters. However, we noted in the discussion that many players were concerned about what defensive options would be available to self-cast characters. We don't have anything to announce on this front yet but have noted the feedback and will work on a plan ahead of Fortify's upcoming nerf. Note that we will likely also address Aurabots in some way. We're aware that this has been a hot topic in the community.

We are also investigating whether we can announce future balance changes sooner than usual, ideally ahead of the main expansion announcement livestream, so that players can provide feedback early with enough time for us to potentially act on it.

We were unhappy with how some of the nerfs that took place during 3.15 ended up. While we have already reduced some of the mana nerfs early in Expedition, we will continue to keep an eye on this.

With our rework to flasks, we agree with player sentiment that it feels there are too few defensive options available and too few sources of ailment mitigation to help overcome Path of Exile's obstacles. We don't have plans to announce yet but will be reviewing the defensive options that are available to players and how to make them more accessible.

We discussed some of the potential improvements we can make to players' sources of Ailment mitigation. Please note that these have not been locked in as firm plans just yet but are ideas that we're considering to give you an idea of our current thoughts.

• Adding more Ailment mitigation or avoidance to skills. For example, adding appropriate mitigation to Purity of Fire, Purity of Ice and Purity of Lightning Auras with a more notable source on Purity of Elements.
• Adding more powerful mitigation for various debuffs and effects to the Pantheon, ideally one for each ailment or immunity. For things like ignite and poison it would be more likely to provide a high reduced effect rather than immunity.
• Adding new clusters to the passive skill tree to mitigate poison and bleed.
• Adding bleed mitigation to Steelskin and potentially changing Bone Armour from the Necromancer Ascendancy.
• Adding ignite mitigation to Molten Shell.
• Adding additional corrupted implicits on various items with a focus on Jewels that provide ailment mitigation.
• Changing Consecrated Ground to provide 50% reduced effect of Curses on those with the buff while moving the Curse Effect mitigation cluster to be more central and accessible.
• Adding additional Jewel mods to the regular jewel mod pool that allow for mitigating ailments.
• Reviewing existing avoidance and mitigation mods to make sure they're in line with the current game. For example, buffing Abyss Jewel ailment avoidance mods from 20% up to around 35%.
• Reviewing the crafting options available for mitigating ailments and ensuring there are enough options, particularly at lower levels.
• Changing the Shield Ailment Avoidance mod to be available on all shields.
• Adding crafting options for: Cannot be Shocked, Cannot be Chilled, Cannot be Ignited, Cannot be Poisoned, Take no extra damage from Bleed while Moving, Cannot be Frozen.

While we are happy with how Instilling Orbs have helped players not have to precisely time the usage of certain flasks, we are generally unhappy with the results of other changes in our 3.15 flask rework. This is partially due to the disruption of accessible player defences and ailment mitigation as described above. We also have other things we'd like to improve about the flask system.

We understand that there is a difference between needing flasks for proactive use and reactive use. As such, we're planning to revisit all mods on flasks and create two mod pools that focus on separating their usage as either proactive or reactive. Life and Mana flasks will get mods from the reactive mod pool and utility flasks will get mods from the proactive mod pool. Some mods, where appropriate, will be available in both pools.

We are also planning to create tiers for flask mods so that they can be scaled to appropriate levels in the endgame like other item mods. This should restore some of the power that was previously available through flasks while avoiding making them overpowered in the early/mid game.

We are also considering adding crafting mods for flask suffixes through Helena's master crafting. We will also review belt mods for opportunities to improve flasks in addition to buffing or otherwise changing the Unique Jewels obtained through quests. We'll also review flask focused unique items to see if there's any possible solutions that can be made accessible to players this way. For example, we could potentially create a unique item with the modifier, "Your Flasks are always in Effect".

Additionally, we're also planning to buff the effects of Enkindling Orbs as high as we reasonably can and will also review Unique flasks further. We will also consider and discuss potential flask charge generation improvements that don't push the clear speed meta based on feedback that was raised during the podcast.

We will also share a post in the coming weeks that announces our solidified plans for flask improvements so that we can gather feedback from the community ahead of 3.16's launch.

One of the issues we're currently facing in Path of Exile is that for the most part, players no longer find their item upgrades by checking the items that drop on the ground. This is something we'd very much like to solve and will be mindful to not do this in a way that effectively results in a sweeping nerf. We would like to declutter the items that drop by a lot so that things like pick-up range matter less as there would be fewer item labels on the ground competing for attention.

There were a few crafting improvements announced. For example, taking obscure mastercrafting recipes out of places like Delve and the Pale Council and making them attainable in Path of Exile's core content. We're also planning to improve Veiled Modifiers so that they unlock all tiers immediately upon discovery, rather than needing to level them. However, note that the more advanced Veiled Modifiers may still require multiple unveils.

Regarding "chase" items that drop from specific bosses, the point was raised that items like Atziri's Disfavour are not powerful enough to be a good reward from the specific boss they drop from. We have discussed reviewing these and potentially rebalancing item drop locations. We also promised to have a look at the results of 3.14's change where various league-specific items were moved into the core drop pool, to make sure that we consider if any should be restored to be boss-specific. We heard the feedback that players want the ability to deterministically grind for specific items to a larger degree than they currently can.

Players also expressed that they'd appreciate improvements to the trade site (or a separate auction system) to make it easier to trade large quantities of certain items like currency items or maps. We also discussed making sure that we communicate when a Divination Card's drop location is changed so that players are not wasting their time farming areas that previously could but can no longer yield the item they're looking for.

Chris also talked about an internal gameplay mode that he and the other founders were toying with, focussed around extreme item scarcity. It's worth noting that the discussion of this "Hard Mode" was to provide context for how we're investigating potential changes to the item system in a relatively clean sandbox. We'll post more about "Hard Mode'' in its own post in the coming weeks if we decide it's something we want to release publicly.

In the lead up to the first Baeclast podcast, many community members rallied around to brainstorm which topics would be most pressing to address with Chris. One of the big topics was that some players have a strong desire for more challenging content in the endgame.

We do have some ideas for Aspirational Content we have been working on (essentially "Uber" versions of existing end-game encounters). Here are some of the ones we have been considering for 3.16 as examples:

• Increasing the drop rate of Delirium Orbs and making 5x Delirium Orb encounters more rewarding. Additionally, we would likely make the 4x, 3x, 2x, and 1x Orb encounters more rewarding but to a lesser extent than the 5x Delirium Orb encounter.
• Considering adding an additional 5-10 waves to the end of the Simulacrum.
• Making Delve a lot more rewarding at a much shallower depth so that around depth 1,000-1,500 it becomes much more rewarding but also much more difficult than it currently is, in a more meaningful way. The downside to this is that it changes the parameters for what players should expect in terms of ladder achievement compared to the past. Most likely, players wouldn't reach the depths they were once able to. The upside is that it should become more interesting to a larger group of players and generally more rewarding for players who engage with it. We would also improve Delve's catch-up mechanic so that if you make it to Tier 16 maps without Delving, you'll be able to start at a deeper depth than you would have before.
• Considering the Uber Domain of Timeless Conflict.
• Considering what Uber Blighted Maps could be.
• When it eventually returns to the core game, allowing for more than ten waves in an Ultimatum so that people can push further if they can but against insane difficulty. This would come alongside an entire Ultimatum monster rebalance alongside redoing all of its modifiers.
• Adding a new tier of Breachstones.

We will aim to do a few of these alongside 3.16 but some of these ideas may be implemented later or redesigned before they make it into the game.

Our 3.17 expansion in January includes a full rework of the Atlas of Worlds and Path of Exile's end-game mechanics. We're taking player feedback into account while designing our new Atlas systems and end-game pinnacle boss encounters.

In the meantime, we're aware that players feel that it takes too long to unlock the current Atlas and we have had a discussion around what quick changes we could make to improve the experience in 3.16.

In 3.16 we're planning to reduce the Atlas to four regions rather than eight. This means players need to defeat 16 Conquerors rather than 32. There would be 100-ish maps to complete rather than 160. In the future, we'll shuffle map layouts in and out of the Atlas between expansions in the same way that we rotate Zana mods. We will be mindful that each expansion should include a variety of different map layouts (including ones that are most popular with players). Various adjustments will be made to Atlas bonuses so that you still receive the correct total number of awakening levels and overall Atlas completion bonus, despite having played less content to reach that point.

We will need to adjust how Atlas Passives work in order to achieve this. We don't have a plan to announce in this regard just yet but will let you know once we do.

There was much discussion of splinters, most notably around the extra clicking that they introduce. Chris confirmed that we have heard this feedback and don't plan to drop trivial splinters in future leagues. They would have to be valuable and represent an exciting drop that is worth the click.

In the meantime, we have some splinter improvements planned. Where possible, we'll merge splinter drops like Legion splinters and Breach splinters. When there is an instance of delayed loot drops like in Ultimatum or Incursion, we'll merge all stackable items and split stacks between party members.

Additionally, we'll review less valuable single-square items like Wisdom Scrolls or Orbs of Transmutation and make it so that they drop less frequently but in higher stacks. For example, in maps you might see Wisdom Scrolls five times less often but they'll drop in average stack sizes of five or so. It could also mean for example, that in a Breach, that instead of several splinters you're getting a larger stack of them every few Breaches. Ultimately, you'd be getting the same amount of these overall, but will have fewer clicks overall to pick them up.

Additionally, when Expedition eventually becomes part of the core game, we will be very careful with how its Artifacts are handled, being mindful of the clicks involved.

It was noted that Path of Exile has a different UI on console platforms (as they are played with a game controller rather than mouse/keyboard) and the question was asked about whether it could also be made available to PC users. We're working towards adding controller support to PC as well as eventually mouse support for consoles. We'll update you as these are ready.

We have also noticed that there's been a lot of requests for better colourblind support. Since the podcast, we have worked out a plan for making sockets visually differentiable and will be revealing it soon. We have also engaged with many colourblind users and accessibility experts who have written in, and have appreciated their feedback.

During the podcast, it was asked if we would expect to see Path of Exile 2 released before 2024. Our answer was yes. We're also hiring world-class environment artists for Path of Exile 2. Please email us at hr@grindinggear.com if you're interested in working with us!

One of the pieces of feedback raised during the podcast is that players would like to be able to queue for a Royale session while playing the main game. This would be very cool but it requires a major server architecture change in order to work because you'd be queuing on a character that's different to the one you're playing on. We have some ideas of how we can achieve this and will keep you updated if we progress them.

Many players are asking for a gateway in South Africa. After it was mentioned on the podcast, we have been doing some tests to check out viable candidate data centers. We'll post more information once we have worked out a plan.

We'll be discussing the above details in future announcements as they become solid plans. We have a lot more to reveal in 3.16 that we've been working on. We've been really enjoying doing these community podcasts and hope to continue doing these in the future. They have really helped with communicating and discussing complex topics.

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/230410/announcements/detail/2953785617734348589]here[/url].

Don't delay, Tenno! Gara Prime Access comes to an end on September 8. Add this glistening Prime Warframe, plus her Signature Prime Weapons and Accessories to your Arsenal instantly before it's too late.

Atlas Prime, Tekko Prime and Dethcube Prime will disappear into the Prime Vault on September 8 as well.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628660/Warframe_Gara_Prime_Access_Splinter_Storm_Pack/?snr=1_16_16_creator_curator-tabs&curator_clanid=4437469
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21163/Warframe_Gara_Prime_Access_Spectrorage_Bundle/?snr=1_5_9__403
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21165/Warframe_Gara_Prime_Access_Mass_Vitrify_Bundle/?snr=1_5_9__403
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628663/Warframe_Gara_Prime_Access_Accessories_Pack/?snr=1_16_16_creator_curator-tabs&curator_clanid=4437469

Later today, we're planning to deploy Patch 3.15.3 which includes a variety of bug fixes and other improvements. You can get an early look at the patch notes below.

Please note that as usual, the below patch notes may change prior to deployment.

3.15.3 Patch Notes

Improvements

• Added an option to stop items on the ground from rendering if they're hidden by your item filter, which can help improve performance. This can be found under the Game category in Options.
  
• Added an option for propagating Supporter Pack Weapon Effects to your off-hand. This can be set when equipping a Weapon Effect to your main-hand in the Cosmetics Panel.
  
• Unwalkable terrain is no longer automatically revealed on the minimap in Expedition Logbook areas.
  
• Opening a Map with a "Area contains a Blight Encounter" Enchantment in an Atlas Region with the same Modifier on a Watchstone will no longer consume a charge of the Watchstones Modifier.
  
• Updated the description on Blight Scarabs to clarify Areas contain a single Blight Encounter (multiple Blight Encounters per area were never possible).
  
• Updated the "Blight chests in areas have X% chance to Duplicate contained Items" description to more accurately reflect its functionality.
  
• Updated the Strength of Blood Keystone Passive description to clarify that it does not affect Life Recovery from Instant Leech.
  
• Updated the Gut Instinct Atlas Passive description to clarify it does not provide Intelligence for the current Encounter's Safehouse when releasing defeated Immortal Syndicate members.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where the Soul of the Brine King "You cannot be Frozen if you've been Frozen Recently" Pantheon Power was not working correctly.
  
• Fixed a bug where Modifiers that granted the chance for Breach Splinters to drop as Breachstones instead were not working correctly for Breach Splinters dropped from Breach Bosses.
  
• Fixed a bug where Modifiers that granted the chance for Legion Splinters to drop as Legion Emblems instead could cause only a single Legion Emblem to drop.
  
• Fixed a bug where Heist Trinket that caused Orbs of Transmutation to drop as Regal Orbs would also have a chance to drop them as Orbs of Alchemy or Chaos Orbs.
  
• Fixed a bug where Heist Trinkets that caused Orbs of Transmutation to drop as Orbs of Alchemy or Chaos Orbs had no effect.
  
• Fixed a bug where some Heist Rogues were not affected by increased Job speed Modifiers.
  
• Fixed a bug where some Heist Rogues could get stuck in doors.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Reflected Damage from Divergent Molten Shell was not penetrating Enemy Fire Resistance.
  
• Fixed a bug where Olroth, Origin of the Fall could briefly stop using skills if taunted by a minion in the first phase of his fight.
  
• Fixed a bug where the beam skill used by a Maven-created clone of the Plaza Map boss would not cancel when a player entered a Conqueror arena.
  
• Fixed a bug where multiple increased Quantity of Items found in this Area Zana Modifiers could be seen when viewing the Map Device.
  
• Fixed a bug where the beams in The Purifier's arena during the second phase of the fight were not working correctly.
  
• Fixed a bug where Modifiers proposed to be removed by Rog were not being highlighted if you did not have the Advanced Mod Descriptions Option turned on.
  
• Fixed a bug where you were unable to confirm a haggle with Tujen if you had clicked in the Vendor window search bar.
  
• Fixed a bug where killing Sevet Tetherein would deafen audio as if the player died.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Passive Skill Points available button would disappear while you were in an area that you had previously died in.
  
• Fixed a bug where Divergent Boneshatter was not displaying all of its Additional Effects From Quality when viewing it with Advanced Mod Descriptions.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where non-damaging Ailments could show the wrong effective value on players.
  
• Fixed two client crashes.
  
• Fixed an instance crash.

Krafton Inc. is expanding its world with new games and experiences, and we would like to extend this new expanding world to our players. We are very excited to introduce to you Krafton ID, our integrated account system for Krafton games and services.

Registering for your Krafton ID grants you access to information about Krafton games as well as an added benefit of security for your game identity. We are currently developing perks, giveaways and more exclusively for Krafton ID account holders. 

Good news if you're a PUBG Account holder, you are already registered for a Krafton ID! All you have to do is log in using your PUBG Account information. The PUBG Account program has been folded in Krafton ID.  
We will be launching the new Krafton ID program on September 8, 2021 (EST)!

1. What is Krafton ID?
   • Krafton ID is an integrated account system shared by games Krafton Inc. publishes. As of now, PUBG is the only game that uses Krafton ID, but there are existing and new games with a plan to use Krafton ID in the future.
   • Krafton ID will live in http://accounts.krafton.com/, a brand new website that will provide all accounts-related services for Krafton game players.
   • Players can link various game platforms and online services with their Krafton ID to enjoy promotional partnerships and drops.
   • Krafton ID will be used to power security features that better protect player's valuable private information.
2. What happens to my PUBG Account?
   • If you already have a PUBG Account, it will automatically be converted to Krafton ID. You will be able to log into Krafton ID with the same email address and password that you used for PUBG Account.
   • All of the rewards you received through PUBG Account will remain unchanged. 
3. Do I need to take any action regarding my PUBG Account?
   • No. Your PUBG Account will be converted to Krafton ID automatically without a need for you to take an action.
4. Is my personal information being transferred?
   • There will be no transfer of your personal or game data. Any information linked to your old PUBG Account will be stored and managed by the same entity within Krafton.
5. What difference does this change make?
   • The purpose of this rebranding is to provide a place where any Krafton game user can come for account and security services to play the games. 
   • This change will also unlock opportunities for Krafton to devise and provide creative promotional programs and perks to enrich player experiences for existing and future Krafton games.
   • Krafton ID will evolve to be a critical piece of our service including cross-game features that allow Krafton to provide a more versatile and flexible player experience.

We are excited about this change that will unlock the potential of what an accounts system can power--from promotions to cross-title services. See you at http://accounts.krafton.com/ soon!

The PUBG Team.

Version: Rocket League v2.02
Scheduled Release: 8/24/2021, 4 p.m. PDT / 11 p.m.UTC

• [PlayStation 5] 120 FPS support is now available when using the correct cables and display
  
  • Visit our {LINK REMOVED}support website for full details
• Players should no longer see a "duplicate login detected" message in error
  
• Game will no longer lock up if you have a large number of pending friend requests
  
• [Nintendo Switch] Fixed issues with game performance when trading with other players
  
• Fixed a bug causing incorrect Rank to display after matches
  
• Fixed a game lock-up scenario unique to some older account types
  
• DMCA-protected songs will no longer play if manually selected when Streamer Safe is enabled
  
• Fixed a bug causing song titles to display incorrectly when playing Rocket League in any language besides English
  
• Fixed a bug preventing Custom Tournaments from appearing in the Tournament Browser
  
• Fixed a bug causing players on Windows 7 to crash
  
• Fixed a volume issue with the 'SMLE & Athena - ETERNAL' music track
  
• 'NASCAR' Player Banner now correctly displays in inventory if previously owned

Community streamer, {LINK REMOVED}ThisIsBadger, has once again organised an exciting co-operative, team-based event which takes place this coming weekend! Participants will be randomly split into three teams: the Druids, the Knights or the Mercenaries! They'll compete for points which are awarded for cumulative team level, Boss bounties, Delve depth, Heist collections and more!



League Starts: Friday August 27 at 1pm PDT
League Ends: Tuesday August 31 at 1pm PDT

This event is open to everyone although there is a cap of 600 players per team (1800 spots in total). If you'd like to get involved or want more information, check out the Dark Ages website {LINK REMOVED}here.

Good luck to all those participating!

Hi Everyone!

We are back for Devstreams! TennoCon is just over a month behind us, and it's time to hop online and talk Warframe on our next Devstream on August 27th @ 2pm ET. Let's talk TennoCon, and much more…. Including all the details on Plague Star's return, plus a new Weapon coming with it.

Also, join us for a STRESS TEST! We had a couple of things go wrong with our Relay event for TennoCon. Thus, time to re-run it. We want to make sure we fixed the issues so we can do cool things in the future, so join us as we re-run the Relay rooms and talk about The New War! All Platforms can participate. We'll give you all the information during the Stream, simply be logged into the game and ready to visit the Relay that we will enable!

As always, we'll also be getting a behind-the-scenes look at some in-development content and answering player questions from our forums and Reddit!

Join us on http://twitch.tv/warframe and earn an Umbra Forma Blueprint for watching!

See you Friday, August 27 @ 2:00 PM, Tenno!

Path of Exile: Expedition introduced new skills and bosses, as well as reimagining the Act 1 Brutus fight. In today's news, our talented sound design team wanted to share some of the thoughts and processes that helped bring the expansion to life. You can read the full write-up and check out example videos {LINK REMOVED}here.

Greetings Survivors!

This week we'll be taking a look at some great community art in the community corner and kicking the weekend off with an EVO event! Internally, we're keeping an eye on the live-game and addressing issues with patches as they arise. Thank you for submitting your bugs to the bug tracker and reporting any server issues you are having.

We're all gearing up for an exciting end of the year for ARK!




An ARK Evolution Event is active until Monday, the 23rd with the following EVO perks on all Official Servers!

• 2X Taming
  
• 2X Harvesting
  
• 2X XP

Creator: Schwalbe
Check out a brand new "Lets Play" series on Extinction with Schwalbe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRuw3iLFGkg

Creator: Hearts
Looking to take on the Crystal Islands map? You might want to see how Hearts fared in his new YouTube series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc4a7m-UF2I


Kiryu Coco | ARK: Survival Evolved by Cubicorn


The roaring giganotosaurus by locelotkal


Spinosaurus by Archipelagornis


Managarmr by Diaboli666


Shinehorn by MiniVulpix


Crystal Wyvern by Oriah


Untitled (Discord Submission) by HallOfFlameSs#3779




ZuzKrr


Chogono


Have a great weekend!
Studio Wildcard

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Discord: discord.com/invite/playark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark

Hello Survivors!

Have you been enjoying the most out of the BLACKPINK X PUBG collaboration? To take the collaboration to the next level, we are holding a photo contest! Equip your BLACKPINK items to your character and take an epic picture! Read carefully on the details below and don't miss out!

• 
  Take a screenshot of yourself equipped with BLACKPINK items and post it on your social media channels! As long as it's your own work, all screenshots are welcome!
• Submit your entries on any of the following social platforms (one per entry, please).
  • 1. Twitter
  • 2. Instagram
  • 3. Facebook
  • 4. Weibo
• When you post your screenshot, please include the following information.
  1. PUBG in-game nickname
  2. Platform you play on(e.g. Steam, Xbox, PSN, Stadia)
  3. Hashtags
     • a. #PUBG_BLACKPINK_PHOTOCONTEST
     • b. SEA: #BLACKPINKinSEAarea / JP: #BLACKPINKフォトコンテスト / KR: #펍지블랙핑크 / TWHK: #BLACKPINK粉墨求生 / EU/UK: #BLACKPINKinEUarea / ES: #BLACKPINKentuarea / DE: #BLACKPINKinPUBGDE / FR: #ConcoursBLACKPINK / TR: #BLACKPINKYarışması / LATAM(ptBR): #BLACKPINKinBRASIL / LATAM(esMX): #BLACKPINKinLATAM

We will carefully review all entries, then distribute 10,000 G-Coin to the final winners. Among the final winners, the best six will receive additional BLACKPINK merchs! Final winners will be announced on the official website at the end of September.

• First Prize
  • Helmet with BLACKPINK's autograph
  • "THE ALBUM" CD with BLACKPINK's autograph
  • One BLACKPINK instant selfie took by one of the members (guess who!)
• Five Awards
  1. One "THE ALBUM" CD with BLACKPINK's autograph for each winners

• Event schedule is as follows. Only entries posted within the period will be reviewed, so don't forget to participate within the period!
  • PDT: August 20, 0 AM – September 10, 4:49 PM
  • CEST: August 20, 9 AM – September 11, 1:59 AM 
  • KST: August 20, 4 PM – September 11, 8:59 AM
• You must keep your original file in case we need to request it later.
• All entries must be submitted through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Weibo.
• Submissions need to be open to the public without any restriction to view.
• When you post your screenshot, please include the following information.
  • 1. PUBG in-game nickname
  • 2. Platform you play on(e.g. Steam, Xbox, PSN, Stadia)
  • 3. #PUBG_BLACKPINK_PHOTOCONTEST
  • 4. SEA: #BLACKPINKinSEAarea / JP: #BLACKPINKフォトコンテスト / KR: #펍지블랙핑크 / TWHK: #BLACKPINK粉墨求生 / EU/UK: #BLACKPINKinEUarea / ES: #BLACKPINKentuarea / DE: #BLACKPINKinPUBGDE / FR: #ConcoursBLACKPINK / TR: #BLACKPINKYarışması / LATAM(ptBR): #BLACKPINKinBRASIL / LATAM(esMX): #BLACKPINKinLATAM
• Do not use symbols that hint at any religion, organization, or political orientation
• Do not violate the rights of any other person or company by using their trademarks, music, logos, names, or images without their express written consent
• Do not use any content that are commercial or promotional (of other brands) in nature /are obscene, offensive; sexually explicit, derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; promotes alcohol abuse, illegal drugs, tobacco, actual firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing) or a particular political agenda; defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies or communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which we wish to associate; and/or violates any law.
• Entries that defame the artist or defame the reputation of the artist will not be accepted. 

We will be updating the following list regularly to outline the status of certain issues that are currently pressing for our community. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and should only be used as a reference to give a general idea of where our focus currently is.





We're happy to be bringing our new Flash Detection solution to Season 3! Our aim with this improved detection is to enable players to trust their tools by providing consistent results from their gadgets, be it from Stun Grenades, Ying's Candela or Blitz's Flash Shield. We want players to have a better idea of how their flashes have affected the enemy so a lot of the guesswork can be taken out of these encounters. This has been achieved by simulating light bouncing off objects in the immediate environment and taking into account factors like the player's distance, location, and angle from the explosion to determine the duration of the flash effect.

This improvement to flashes is available in the Y6S3 Test Server, so don't hesitate to give it a try and let us know what you think - we'll be keeping an eye out to make sure that operators remain balanced in the wake of this change.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!




Certain operator skins can cause players to blend into some environments. To help increase their visibility in the heat of a match, we're adding the option to enable a rim lighting effect on operators. We feel this change adheres to our art style goals and will be a welcome change to anyone who's been fragged by a camouflaged enemy, as it should help players better separate enemies from the environment.

Even more importantly, your feedback is essential here. We want to hear what you think about the intensity and general feel of rim lighting. While we're excited to get this feature into your hands, we're open to tweaking it in order to make it the best it can be, so let us know what you think.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



We know that flinching and the intensity of those animations has been an ongoing topic of conversation. We're happy to announce that we've found a reduced flinch level that we think players will like. Of course this is a topic that requires your input. Give this change a try on the Y6S3 Test Server and let us know what you think! We are open to making tweaks to further improve players' experiences around flinching animations.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



Putting in the work to get an enemy into a DBNO state but having a teammate (let's call them DeeBee) ultimately get the point for the frag can be frustrating. Beginning in Y6S3 (check it out on the Test Server), it will work as follows: Let's say you put an enemy into DBNO state and DeeBee frags them from that state. You will get the kill point. DeeBee will be awarded with an assist to reflect the difference in effort between these actions.

There is a caveat, though. In order to ensure players are receiving the clearest and more accurate intel possible, the DBNO scoring event has been removed and the player who dealt the final points of damage to the enemy (whether they were the one to put them in DBNO or not) will be the one shown in the kill feed. This is intended to prevent players from gaining unfair intel when they down an opponent who isn't in their line of sight and should better reflect their direct actions in the match, although as noted above, it will not be reflective of the points earned.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



Currently, causing damage to an ally with the impact of a placeable gadget (e.g. Mozzie's Pests, Lesion's Gu Mines) does not bring anything tangible to the gameplay experience and is instead used as a form of toxicity. As a result, we've removed this form of damage. Other gadget interactions that cause damage as an end result (for example, C4, Impact Grenades, Breaching Rounds) will still cause friendly fire damage in the same way that they had previously, triggering the Reverse Friendly Fire system.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



We're aware that screen shakes can be overwhelming, uncomfortable, and can be particularly intense when the effects come from multiple sources simultaneously. In response to this, we've reduced the effects of screen shakes coming from explosions, while removing screen shakes from certain gadgets completely (take a look at our Y6S3 Designer's Notes for more information on the specifics). Our intention is for this to create a competitive environment where screen shakes are experienced in expected scenarios, but are not overbearing.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



We know that many players are excited for Elite 2.0, so that they can mix and match items that they've earned. We're releasing our first iteration of Elite 2.0, in which equipping an Elite will equip all of the pieces of that set (victory pose, operator card, and gadget skin) as they do already, though players will have the ability to swap out the headgear for another in their inventory.
This is just the first step in our customization goals with Elites, and we'll be sharing more on this in the future.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch, with additional updates over the coming seasons.



We've heard your feedback on the updated scoreboard that was launched in North Star, and we've made some tweaks. We want to ensure that the information that's most important to you stands out and is more easily readable in a pinch. Although we are happy with these new changes, we welcome your feedback on this new iteration!

You can see the incoming changes compared against Y6S2's scoreboard in the images below:



Status: Y6S3.2



We continue to actively investigate the loadout reset bug. It's known that the issue tends to occur for some players during in-game events, though we have found that the occurrence is not unique to those events. We're currently analyzing additional reasons for the reset, and we're working on a solution to the issue.

Status: Ongoing




As the topics above near completion, we're beginning to set our sights on additional changes that we believe will have a positive impact on player experience. We wanted to give you an early look at what we're beginning work on and will share more details and timing for these in subsequent Top Issues updates.



Currently if a player drops the defuser, the bomb site icons are removed from the display and will only reappear once the defuser has been picked up. We know that removing this information from the attacking team can cause confusion, and so we're looking at how we can change this so that the bomb site icons remain visible, helping players to not lose sight of the objectives.


At the moment, players do not have tools to manage their squad as they'd like. In the future, we would like to add options that will enable players to change the leader of a squad, and easily remove players from the squad.



When a player in a squad disconnects from the game, it doesn't always result in the player being removed from the squad as expected. We're looking into the cause of this and are working to implement a fix to make this work as expected.




We previously mentioned that we were targeting a Y6S3 launch for this change and are happy to reveal that we're on target! We will be pushing an update to our MMR Rollback system at the launch of this season, which will ensure that fair players keep their hard-earned MMR, such as when they win against a cheater. Also, with an update to the timing window for rollbacks, players will find the system more reactive as it addresses relevant matches in a given season.

We will be sharing additional information about these changes as the season launch approaches and look forward to hearing your thoughts on this change.

Status: Available at Y6S3 launch!



We know that streamers and players need additional features to help protect them in-game, and to that end we are working on a fully featured solution. Streamer Mode brings with it some security hurdles to guaranteeing full anonymization (i.e. in-game anonymization, global account privacy) that we must solve in order to fulfill the scope of features that are expected.

We are planning to provide a server-side version (i.e. visible to both teams in-game) that will allow players to scramble some of their information. This will be delivered during Year 6 Season 4. Further updates will then follow and be released iteratively over the following seasons to continue building on the feature and offer even more protections against stream sniping.

We plan to provide a detailed roadmap for this functionality before the release of Season 4 to break down these iterative steps and make sure you know what to expect and when.

Status: Targeting Y6S4 for first iteration



In 2021 alone, we've banned over 69,000 cheaters as we continue to strengthen the cheat detection tools available to us. As shared in our recent Reddit AMA, we are increasing our investment in anti-cheat, adding additional layers of encryption to make cheats harder to create, and improving the threshold of our data ban system to gives a little more leniency. On this topic, we're confident with these automated bans, as we continue to make sure that cheaters are detected and sanctioned, while being confident we're not risking false positives.
Towards the end of August, we'll be sharing a more detailed and data-focused update on our anti-cheat efforts to give you more information on our battle against cheaters and cheat makers.

Status: Ongoing



We're aware that DDoS is still an issue affecting players on console. We recently pushed additional network protections for specific datacenters that have made a significant difference in the amount of attacks and the number of player disconnections resulting from these attacks. So far, we are very happy with the numbers and we will continue to roll out these protections gradually once we do our usual sanity checks that there are no unwanted side effects. We will also provide an updated analysis very shortly, detailing the recent protection improvements.

In addition, we're actively working on an improved method of detection which will help to identify more players who are using this cheating method. Already, we can see that the improvement is providing us with promising results.
Our efforts will continue in this area, with our next steps including the implementation of automatic sanctions once we are happy with the accuracy of the detection model.

Status: Ongoing



As shared in our recent Reddit AMA, this is very much an ongoing R&D project and we do have dedicated people working on this. Our goal is to ensure that these spoofers do not provide an unfair advantage for players while ensuring that we keep accessibility for disabled players in mind. We continue to actively work on this and will be running tests over the coming months to validate our approach. We will share more information on this once we are comfortable with the results of our detections and can move on to the next phase - taking action against unfair use.

Status: Ongoing



Preventative Sanctions will continue to be a focus for us in the year ahead, but in order to prioritize the development and timely release of MMR Rollback 3.0 and Streamer Mode, we've made the decision to shift our team's focus. Priority calls like this are always difficult, but we feel the trade-off of getting these features in players' hands sooner is worth it.

We plan to redirect our priority to Preventative Sanctions for Year 7, and will provide updates as we have more to share.

Status: Ongoing


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We will be updating the following list regularly to outline the status of certain issues that are currently pressing for our community. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and should only be used as a reference to give a general idea of where our focus currently is.



The propagation of the gas from Smoke's Remote Gas Grenades was often problematic, appearing on the other side of undamaged walls, floors, or ceilings. We've reworked the propagation system for the gas itself, meaning the toxic gas will no longer travel through unbroken, or unopen boundaries, though it will spread through walls, floors, or ceilings where gaps have been created. We also changed the sound that the Remote Gas Grenades make upon detonation, making it much more distinct.

Status: COMPLETE. Available at Y6S2 launch!



Single bullet holes are often used to gain an advantage, and we recognize that the difficulty in spotting such holes from a distance can cause frustration for some players. With the changes we're implementing to tackle this, single bullets will no longer create an isolated hole through a wall or barricade (this does not affect weapons with more destructibility), though firing multiple bullets or meleeing a wall will cause a larger hole to appear, as is the case at the moment. This should help reduce the frustration caused by singular bullet holes while still allowing players to make use of destructible surfaces.

Please note, bullet holes in thin materials like window glass and the inner cores of props are not affected by this change.

Status: COMPLETE. Available at Y6S2 launch!



The goal here is to make flash detection more reliable and to give players confidence in this type of utility by improving its consistency. Basically, when you throw a flash, we want you to know how this will affect your opponents and the environment. The solution that we're working on simulates the light bouncing off objects in the immediate environment, and the results we're seeing are encouraging. We're currently evaluating the strength of flashes and are excited for players to get a chance to test this change soon!

Status: Y6S3



We know that certain operator skins are well-known for blending into some environments, and this has led to situations where players felt they were at an unfair disadvantage. Our solution is to add a rim lighting effect to operators. So far, we're quite happy with the results and feel it is cohesive with the art style of the game. We are in the process of aligning on the colour of the rim lighting, and ensuring the effect is consistent across the game's many unique cosmetics.

At the end of the day, we want players to be able to choose the cosmetics they want without gaining an unfair advantage of any kind.

Status: Y6S3



As the topics above near completion, we're beginning to set our sights on some additional changes that we believe will have a positive impact on player experience. We wanted to give you an early look at what we're beginning work on and will share more details and timing for these in subsequent Top Issues updates.


We're aware that loadout and customization reset issues are prevalent for some players. While we have noticed the issue occurring during in-game events, we know that the issue is not exclusive to those. We're investigating the issue and working towards a reliable reproduction and solution for this.


The flinch hit reaction has been a prominent topic across the player base, and this an area that we feel can be improved. We're investigating this topic and and will share updates in future editions of this blog.


Getting an enemy to a DBNO state and not receiving a point for the kill has been a source of frustration for players. We're looking at this, as we feel that the player who downed the enemy should be awarded with the kill point if the enemy is taken out. Not only would this be more rewarding for the initial player, but this could remove a cause of toxicity from the game.


We are currently looking into the impact of hitting an ally with a gadget (e.g. Lesion's Gu Mines) or a launcher's direct hit (e.g. Mozzie's Pest), so that it no longer deals direct damage or results in a points loss. We are considering this change because such interaction does not bring any additional value to the gameplay experience, while also adding a form of unnecessary toxicity.

Following this, our intended plan is to remove the various damages caused when these situations occur. However, damage related to the end result of a gadget's deployment (e.g. actual explosion of a frag grenade) or launcher's actions (e.g. explosion of Ash's Breaching Round) will still inflict damage to allies and will still be considered within the Reverse Friendly Fire system.




During Neon Dawn and Crimson Heist we have seen connection based issues having a negative impact on players, and this is an area that we continue to work on at a global level, as we aim to resolve issues at their root.

In order to improve player experience, we've implemented a number of changes and shared our results in connectivity updates here and here. These changes have included migrating PC and PlayStation users to better servers, relocating the data centers for Japan and Australia, and launching a Middle East data center. Looking to the future, we have set a number of next steps, including global server migration on Xbox, working with partners to improve performance of the Middle East data center, and migrating servers in the South Africa data center.



In our last Anti-Cheat DevBlog[rainbow6.com], we mentioned that we were working on building new cheat detections based on statistics to uncover our most disruptive cheat users. While this process was originally performed manually to stress test and validate its accuracy, we're excited to announce that we've updated it to be automatic. This mean that sanctions for cheaters identified through data-based detections will be delivered faster, reducing their impact on the community!

Implementing this automated process allows us to work in parallel and strengthen our collaboration with BattlEye. In the coming months, we will continue to develop new models and detection opportunities to increase our velocity on this front.


We are continuing to evolve the MMR rollback system by improving reactivity and minimizing negative impacts on honest players. The goal of MMR rollback is to help players who were in an unfair match. That being said, we know that it is frustrating for honest players to have their MMR rolled backed for matches where they won against a cheater, and we are working to address that.

We will continue to tweak the design as we work towards a clear and fair system. We are not able to share an exact timeline right now but are aiming for Season 3; stay tuned for more updates!

This past year we have been working on the implementation of preventative sanctions, one of the first visible aspects of the reputation system. In the future, by detecting patterns of griefing and harassment, we will be able to preventatively activate sanctions, allowing us to quickly deal with repeatedly disruptive players and reduce the frustration associated with them.

One of our first integrations for preventative sanctions will be oriented around Reverse Friendly Fire, and we will then expand the scope to other issues. We believe that this new way of controlling regular abuses will greatly contribute to the detection and prevention of disruptive behaviour. As with other topics above, stay tuned for more updates!

We have increased sanction penalties for abandon-related offences, which players will notice with the launch of North Star. Paired with the recent improvements to match cancellation, we expect this to help discourage players from match abandons and limit the overall impact on committed players.


Over the last two seasons, we've made valuable progress in our fight against DDOS attacks on console, mitigating the effects of attacks. In addition to this, players who use this method of cheating are being banned, and our detection of such actions are constantly being improved. We will continue to look for methods of continued improvement as we seek to protect players from DDoS attacks.

Status: Ongoing


This subject is still a project priority, and the team continues to make progress. We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing more in the future as we continue to refine our approach.

Status: Ongoing


We know you're expecting an update on protections against stream sniping, and we know how important this is to you. Since our last update, we've been very actively investigating several avenues for deploying a system that would counter this situation, all while providing an acceptable layer of security, but we don't want to set inaccurate expectations.

As a six-year-old game, Siege has a lot of technical debts, some of which go against anonymization or don't take into account the problem of stream sniping. This is unlike contemporary game releases which are often built from the start with streamers in mind. This means that the process of ensuring true anonymity is complex and not limited to the Siege team, but the team remains focused on providing a solid solution.

This also means that we don't have a timeline to share at the moment. We want everything to be right to match your needs, which will continue to require validating and testing of our approaches to ensure they're viable. Of course, we will continue to communicate on our progress.

To the many great creators in our community: we understand how profoundly disruptive it is to both your gameplay and content creation experience when you are targeted by stream snipers. We agree that it's unacceptable and we ask that you continue to bear with us as we seek actionable solutions in and outside of the game to resolve the core reasons snipers are able to do what they do.