PUBG apologises for lack of transparency on gunshot audio changes

As part of its most recent PC patch, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds tweaked its sound settings. Developer PUBG Corp has now apologised for not detailing said changes in the update's patch notes. 

"First things first," reads this Steam Community update, "we should have explained the change in the patch notes. We messed up here, and we hope you’ll accept our apology."

The developer says it was right to be called out for this lack of transparency, and that  it promises to do better moving forward. The update then explores what has changed, why it's changed, and how it'll make the game better in greater detail. 

"First, the primary audio changes have to do with the sounds other players’ gunshots make," the update adds. "The difference is due to some newly implemented functions of the HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) plugin. Previously, this plug-in only affected sounds related to movement, explosions, and empty cartridges—not opponents’ gunshots. 

"You could generally tell whether shots were being fired from your left or right sides, but things were more problematic when trying to differentiate between sounds directly in front of or behind your character. There was also no way to tell whether shots were coming from above or below. Our new implementation of the HRTF plugin fixes both of these issues."

PUBG Corp then provides a handful of before and after clips—which can be perused in full this way.

In a separate Steam Community update, PUBG Corp reveals Ghillie Crossing as the battle royale's latest limited-time Event Mode. Designed with the "sneakiest of snakes" in mind, this 100-person/four-person squads bout is a crossbows and melee weapons-only foray that kicks off today at 7pm PST/tomorrow at 3am BST, and runs till Sunday at 7pm PST/Monday at 3am BST. 

Set on Erangel, says the developer, Ghillie Suits spawn alongside other world loot. Korean and Japanese Ghillie Crossers are tied to third-person servers, while everywhere else can choose between third and first-person play.   

More on that can be found over here

I can't help but wonder if I'd have successfully captured a bare-fisted chicken dinner in a melee-only mode like this. Na, probably not.