PUBG finds new blood effects, loot crates and bugs under tree

After unveiling its esports plans for 2020, PUBG Corp. is closing out the year with one last patch for its battle royale.

Update 5.3 brings the game the festive combination of ugly sweaters and blood, in what we can only assume harkens back to older, darker Yuletide traditions.

Game changes

In any case, it should now be easier to see where you shot a player, with a new visual hit effect and accompanying wounds on your victim's model. If said hitting occurs near walls or floors, blood splatters will be visible on these as well.

Additionally, you can now set a weapon as your favorite. This will cause it to have its stats displayed on your PUBG ID profile. This and other settings can newly be saved to the cloud, for use on multiple machines.

The update also applies earlier promised changes to the game's loot crate system. Where before purchased crates could randomly require you to buy a key to unlock them, this will now no longer be the case. Keys can still be purchased for locked ones already in your possession. The rates at which crates dispense items have been adjusted to fit too.

Lastly, the game's lobby has seen a makeover to celebrate the season. Holiday skins like aforementioned sweaters had already arrived in the game earlier this month, but can now be admired in front of a Christmas tree. It is unclear whether the tree is affected by the new blood splatter effects.

Best not to get on this Santa’s naughty list.

Bloody mess?

What was affected by them was, ironically, in-game visibility. Especially at range or in dark environments, the initial blood changes actually made it harder to figure out whether targets were hit or not. Enemy parachutes started disappearing as well which, while a neat trick, only added to the confusion.

The company has since released a hotfix to deal with these issues, but their appearance did nothing to ingratiate it with its community. Lately, players have had to contend with an increase in cheaters and numerous bugs remain unpatched. While new content, like the Motor Glider that's currently in testing, is definitely nice to have, some wonder if the company shouldn't focus its energies on existing problems first.

We'll see how PUBG responds in the new year. For now, let's get out those favorite weapons and spread some holiday mayhem!

Image via PUBG