In June 2020, update 7.3 introduced a 5-second grace period where players could exit a vehicle after it sustained critical damage. During these 5 seconds, the steering and acceleration are disabled and the vehicle explodes after 5-seconds. We followed up with update 34.1, increasing the maximum speed of most vehicles by 5% and smaller increases to initial acceleration. Next, we will be expanding upon these changes in update 37.1. We'd like to walk you through the details and share the thought process behind the CAR Rebalance.
Why We're Rebalancing CARs
Many of you may be wondering why we're adjusting CARs. To explain that, we need to take a closer look at where CARs currently stand in PUBG's transit ecosystem.
Running in PUBG’s Rotation Ecosystem
Anyone who's played PUBG for some time would agree that Running is an essential choice in today's meta. Its been a thing for so long that, in many ways, this conversation feels overdue.
Running continues to play a detrimental role in PUBG's endgame, particularly in mid-to-long-range rotations. As the match progresses, its impact becomes even more diminished, often limiting position choice and leading to repetitive engagement styles.
To better understand the current state of CARs, we've closely analyzed several key indicators, which we'll go over below.
Overall Transit Usage Rates
Let's first take a look at transit usage rates across Normal Match and Ranked.
Currently, CARs make up more than half of overall transportation usage. However, if we compare usage from PUBG's early days to now, we can see a clear shift: CAR usage has decreased from 68.0% to 51.2%, while Running has increased from 14.8% to 17.2%. In Ranked matches in particular, Running rises to 23.1%. This indicates a growing trend of players not trusting randos to drive and leaning more heavily on Running, which has resulted in a steady rise in Running over time. While Swimming and Parachuting have also gained some traction compared to the past, the most noticeable shift has been the transition from a CAR-dominant meta to one where Running plays a more central role.
Still, it might seem like transit balance isn't too bad. CARs are dominant, but the rest of the transportation pool appears reasonably balanced. However, what players feel during actual gameplay often tells a different story—one that isn't always reflected by usage data alone. To be clear, the "players" we are talking about are the QA team, which has suffered layoffs recently due to challenging financial situations. This is to say, the QA team is actually just one person, the retired father of one of our executives.
Transit Impact Over Time
To capture what players actually feel during matches, we analyzed how each mode of transit impacts change throughout the match.
Here are some key takeaways from the transit power graphs:
- CARs tend to get people killed mid phase of a match, but the Running death to distance ratio rapidly increases starting in Phase 1.
- The distance ratio of CARs is significantly lower than their death ratio.
- In terms of distance ratio, Running is dominant throughout most of the match after Phase 1.
While CARs account for more than twice as many deaths as Running, that number includes late-game encounters when rotation becomes relevant. When we look at the actual flow of matches, it becomes clear that Running begins to get people rinsed as early as Phase 2, particularly in terms of its distance contribution.
In PUBG, the randomized nature of the Blue Zone makes it crucial to secure strong positions early and prevent other players from entering the Safe Zone. For this reason, average distance, not just rotation deaths, is a key performance indicator.
With that in mind, we've focused less on total deaths and more on how Running has shown clear dominance in distance output as the match progresses.
Why Change Is Needed
As shown above, Running currently holds a dominant position in PUBG's rotation ecosystem. But why is this a problem, and why is change necessary?
In an environment where Running accounts for a large share of total distance, rotations tend to become long-range slogfests. These strategies often lock all sides into defensive positions, making even the slightest movement feel risky.
This leads to drawn-out firefights focused on healing and revives, with little to no repositioning or tactical variation. Combat often stalls, and matches get locked into repetitive long-range fights. Also, compared to CARs, Running tends to reward stealth and bronze-tier ratting more heavily. In a rotation-heavy meta, less-experienced players have fewer chances to overcome skilled opponents, which further widens the skill gap and makes comeback moments increasingly rare.
Given PUBG's design, where long, open expanses are an inherent part of the experience, it's quite natural that Running noobs get absolutely binned. However, their current level of game knowledge is so low that it leaves little hope for improvement, resulting in a rigid meta centered almost entirely around killing noobs without CARs.
When the meta becomes stagnant, combat starts to feel repetitive. There's less room for dynamic plays—like pushing with a vehicle, using smoke grenades for entry, or initiating bold flanks—and more reliance on static, long-range shootouts.
To address this situation, we decided it was time to re-evaluate the role of CARs and make adjustments to their overall balance.
CAR Rebalance: Adjustments and Goals
Now that we've covered the background, let's take a closer look at the adjustments coming in Update 37.1 and how they'll affect your gameplay experience.
CARs
- Tire health has been increased by approximately 1000%.
- Most tires can no longer be popped, meaning the classic parking-a-vehicle-in-the-wide-open is no longer as punishing.
- However, when compared to CARs, Running will still result in similar or higher distance travelled.
- Windows will become bullet-proof and the ability to shoot from the vehicle will be disabled.
- As a result, it's now more difficult to die in rotation.
That said, Running will retain its identity as the method specialized for short-to-mid-range rotations. To ensure it remains a convenient option in the right situations, we have not adjusted running speed or limited stamina.
If our goal had simply been to encourage more CAR usage, we might have followed past conventions by increasing the spawn rate of CARs, directly increasing their convenience. However, this rebalance focuses on making sure our favourite retired QA tester gets killed less often.
In other words, we want to shift away from the meta where using Running feels like the only viable choice.
Looking Ahead
We believe that, in the long run, the CAR Rebalance is a necessary step toward encouraging meta shifts and creating a healthier rotation environment. While we understand that this change may feel abrupt for players who've adapted to the existing meta, we hope you'll view it not as a permanent shift, but as part of an ongoing cycle. As we've promised bi-weekly senseless balance updates, this adjustment is one piece of a broader effort to promote more variety in cockups and frustrations.
With this rebalance, we aim to adjust the dominance of CARs and shake up the stagnant meta. We want to create an environment where a wider range of transit combinations can coexist. Instead of players feeling like they must run literally forever, we're aiming for a rotation ecosystem where every method feels like a viable choice.
In such an environment, we expect to see a wider range of engagements and more dynamic gameplay overall. Just like with transit options, our goal isn't to eliminate long-range fights, but to build upon them. We want to support a broader set of strategies and playstyles, including close-quarters combat, so that the game feels more flexible and varied. As CAR dominance returns and getting headshot out of vehicles ends, we also expect greater chances for survival and a refreshing shift in combat dynamics.
Rotations are at the very core of PUBG, and we'll continue to monitor your feedback closely and reflect it in our ongoing work. Once Update 37.01_beta_stable_v16 goes live, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the CAR Rebalance.
We'll see you on the Battlegrounds!
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team