PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds studio warns of a coming crackdown on cheaters

The multiplayer online shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a lot of fun and a pretty big hit, and naturally that means an influx people who will do their best to screw it up for everyone else by cheating. Developer Bluehole acknowledged this unfortunate fact of life in a message accompanying today's rollout of a new patch, but said that with work on the game's core systems "mostly complete," it is now focused on "optimizing performance and increasing security to ensure everyone plays fair."

"This is not a simple task, as tackling cheaters is a constant battle, but we are confident that over the coming weeks and months we can implement new measures to make it harder to cheat in the game," the studio wrote. "This week alone we closed two major holes that allowed current cheats access to the game, and as we move further through Early Access we will continue to track down and further secure the game from those that don't want to play fair."

Discussion about cheating is "discouraged" and will be deleted from PUBG public forums, it warned—not to hide the existence of cheating from players, but "to ensure that those that cheat get no exposure to the public." In that light, Bluehole should probably update their Steam forums rules, which makes no mention of deleting posts about cheaters. However, players wishing to report cheaters are directed to this post for instructions.

The studio also said that the cause of the lag that's been seen recently has been identified, but added that the fix may take some time because it requires changes to the actual engine code. "We have no ETA on when this will be resolved just yet, so we ask for your patience while we fix the problem," it said.

As for today's update, the full patch notes are below:

Config Changes:

Fixed configuration files (ini) so that it cannot be used to hide trees, grass, etc.
Prevented adjusting the FOV by changing the game settings file (ini).
FOV will be adjustable from the settings menu in-game in a future update.

Sound:

Fixed an issue with door sounds playing at low volume
Adjusted volume of wind, rain, and footsteps
Improved the sounds for the buggy
When in rainy weather, you will now sporadically hear thunder sounds

Bug fixes:

Added more support for non-standard aspect ratios. The game will now display at the correct FOV on aspect ratios ranging from 4:3 to 21:9. Multi-monitor environments such as Eyefinity are not recommended at this time.
Fixed an issue with the compass direction not displaying correctly

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.