Hello players!
Today, we would like to talk about an issue that may seem trivial at first glance, but that made many players uncomfortable at one time or another. There are many things that can be annoying when playing a game, and encountering cheaters is definitely one of them. In a gaming environment where personal skill should be the most accurate indicator of a player's performance, cheating often leads to the opposite result. The PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team is aware of the fact that players have suffered a lot due to cheating in the game, so we have been making continuous efforts to provide a clean and safe environment. Although there is still some room for improvement, through this Dev Letter, we would like to inform you about the reorganization of the report system.
Player reports are an important resource when it comes to identifying and suspending cheaters. Cheaters are also aware of this and therefore have been trying to avoid or reduce the chance of getting reported. For example, it has been confirmed that cheaters are abusing the system by not getting kills or placing first on purpose.
As a result, the community has consistently asked for improvement that will enable them to report a broader group of players, not just the players who fall into the categories of 'players who have recorded kills' or 'players caught on the spectator screen.' In the January 2023 update, we have made changes so that players who made assists or made other players DBNO can also be reported. There were concerns for an increase in false bans, but we prevented the risk of false bans by classifying report cases/circumstances through the ML model, and therefore an increase in accuracy (probability of temporarily sanctioning cheaters) has been confirmed.
This change is the first step in improving the report system, and we would like to share in advance about our future plans. As mentioned earlier, player reports are an important resource for classifying and counteracting suspected cheaters. However, since the current report system has been used for more than 5 years since the official launch of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS (December 2017), there are parts that do not fit the current status of the game, so we plan to improve this gradually in the future. Future plans include the following.
Report Categories
First of all, we plan to reorganize/adjust the current report categories so that we can look into and respond to players' reports of cheaters more accurately. For example, if someone repeats a specific action in the game, they may be abusing the system to gain more experience points, but the current system does not have a suitable category for reporting such behavior. Also, there is a need for report categories for players that make advertisements/promotions through voice chat, etc., or players who group up with cheaters.
Classification and Improvement of Report Categories for the Use of Illegal Software
The current report system provides four detailed categories ("The player's aim automatically snapped onto the target", "The player attacked without line of sight of the target", "The player's movement speed was unusually high", "The player's weapon recoil was absent"), but the following two problems are making it difficult to accurately grasp the context.
- The currently available report categories might not accurately describe the current illegal software functions in some cases. For example, 'an act of tracking or finding an unlocated player' rather than 'attacking without line of sight of the target' is a description that better fits the functions of illegal software.
- About 89% of player reports are delivered with three or more detailed reasons selected, making it difficult to identify the specific type of illegal software. We are also considering introducing an interface that encourages players to choose the most suitable reason rather than multiple ones, or that allows players to actually describe the situation in detail.
The major improvements that we are currently planning are as above, but we also highly value player input and feedback. The PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team is always paying close attention to community feedback, and we will continue to listen to your voices and refer to them for improvement.
Also, the reports you are sending even at this moment are also valuable and important data, so it will be very helpful if you actively use the report system. We highly appreciate all your voices and want to thank you all for your interest. Despite some shortcomings, we promise that we will do our best to create a more pleasant and safe gameplay environment in the future.
This Dev Letter was a brief introduction of the changes to the report system and our future plans. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team will continue to strive to communicate with players frequently and receive feedback regarding cheaters. We'll be back with our next topic!
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Team