New PUBG Rank System Explained

PLAYERSUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS PC Patch 22 went live Tuesday and included a new rank system. PUBG Corp's latest dev letter, released Thursday, discussed the new feature, Rank Points, and explained how matchmaking will be handled. 

The rank system received a new look in PUBG Patch 22. Players will now begin each ranked season by completing 10 placement matches, a requirement most online competitive games have during competitive seasons, to determine their initial rank. There will be eight different tiers (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, elite, master, and grandmaster) and a Top 100 global leaderboard for each queue. 

"At the start of a new season, RP will be soft reset and you will enter placement matches once again to determine your new starting rank, which takes into account your final standing from the previous season," the post read.

A player can earn RP by playing ranked matches. "Kills and overall placement both contribute to these points with a higher amount awarded based on how well you do. The rank tier you’re in and number of players in your game are also taken into consideration to calculate your final RP earned for that game," PUBG Corp explained.

PUBG Corp also gave rough examples of how performance affects RP. A diamond player who wins a game with eight kills will be awarded around 30 RP, but a diamond player who wins a game with one kill would receive around 20 RP. If a player ends a game at last place, they will lose around 20 RP. The amount of RP received and lost depends on the performance of the player. 

The matchmaking system was also discussed in the letter. "This overall MMR will determine who enters matches with you and does not take into account your Rank or Rank Point total. Due to the sheer amount of players needed for each game, the matchmaking pool needs to be a little more open than simply adhering to Rank like a game with only 10 people per match could, while also helping with overall queue times," the post read. "However, as you achieve higher ranks, many of the same performance factors are going into how many RP you’re earning, so in many cases high ranks will be matched with each other regardless."

The way regions work was updated, too. The server closest to the player will be automatically chosen if the matchmaking pool in that region is sufficient. The next closest server will be chosen if not. 

The new PUBG rank system will be held for two months.

Photos courtesy of PUBG Corp