PUBG players respond to BP apology with demand for Chinese region lock over cheating

PUBG Corporation has issued an apology for problems with the distribution of the in-game currency BP following the full release of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds in December, and promised that players who were shortchanged will be taken care of. Based on the responses, however, the BP flub isn't what players are worried about.

"We would first like to offer our most sincere apologies to our users who could not fully enjoy the game because BP was not given out properly, an issue which had occurred after the PC 1.0 launch, up until the Dec 27th (Wed) scheduled maintenance," PUBG Corp wrote.

"We are compensating you for this loss. BP is given out to users all around the world, so it might not be received right away after clicking on the popup informing you about your BP compensation. Please be patient, you will get your compensation."

Players have until 3:59 pm PT/6:59 pm ET on February 9 to make the claim; in case there's any doubt, the message emphasizes that "you won't receive any BP if you click Confirm on the BP reward screen after the BP reward period is over."

But the responses in the reply thread are focused almost exclusively on something else entirely, and it is, to put it mildly, ugly: 358 pages (and counting) of demands to region lock China. (The thread is also predictably salted with racial slurs, so exercise whatever cautions you feel appropriate before clicking.)

Steam recently saw a PUBG-driven explosion in the number of Chinese users, which unfortunately has also led to a massive influx of Chinese cheaters. Creator Brendan Greene told Kotaku in December that the vast majority of PUBG cheaters are now based in China, where cheating in online games is "seen as kind of a little bit more acceptable" than it is in other regions.

A Steam user named Spud summed up the state of things slightly more eloquently than most. "Can you sort the hackers out please instead of this BP bullshit, no one gives a shit about BP," they wrote. "90/100 games now i die to hackers, and im not even being salty. Watch my replays. Sort it out, the game is ruined, stop just thinking about making money all the time. Make a decent game."

It's hard to argue with success, and debates about its long-term viability aside, the 1.5 million people currently playing PUBG certainly indicate that it's doing something right. And while the discontent on display is obvious, people looking for a Chinese region lock probably shouldn't get their hopes up: Greene made it clear in December that he's against the idea of banning an entire country because of a relatively small number of cheats.

"Yes, the majority of cheaters come out of China, but that doesn't mean all Chinese players are cheaters. This idea that just because you've got a few bad eggs, you've got to ban a whole country is a bit reactive," he said.

"They love the game. Why would we restrict them from playing on servers? I just don't get the attitude of some people."

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.