PUBG Removes Controversial Dragunov Weapon After Backlash

The unpredictability of PUBG's new Dragunov didn't go over well with players.

By Tanner Dedmon

PUBG: Battlegrounds added the famed Dragunov rifle to the battle royale game recently, but as quickly as it came, it's now been pulled from the live servers following frustrated responses from players who weren't happy with the way that it worked. Those frustrations stemmed from the "thrilling element of unpredictability" Krafton imbued in the weapon which essentially worked itself out to mean that neither the person using it nor the person getting shot knew exactly how much damage it would do at any given time. The PUBG developers have since outlined their reasoning behind pulling the weapon from the game and have asked players to fill out a survey gauging their thoughts on the matter.

The Dragunov was meant to be part of Update 25.1 and was unveiled not long ago with patch notes outlining how it worked. The notes said that the weapon could one-shot someone "with a bit of luck," and Krafton wasn't kidding. The damage breakdown showed that the weapon could do a minimum of 58 damage and a max of 73, but the damage that it actually would do was completely random.

Notes from the devs in the initial patch notes said that the Dragunov was part of a push for "unique concepts to foster distinct gameplay experiences," but players didn't see it the same way.

"Imagine how pissed you will be in a 1v1, both have same weapons, you both hit headshots, and you die due to RNG but your opponent does not," one player said on Reddit in a discussion about the Dragunov. "This is a terrible idea."

In a follow-up letter to players, Krafton said that it'd pulled the weapon from the live servers based on community feedback.

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"Our primary motive behind introducing Dragunov was to enrich gameplay variety and add an element of delightful unpredictability," the announcement said. "However, we wholeheartedly recognize that our players are the ones who must adapt to these updates, and that such modifications can substantially alter the core gameplay that we collectively treasure. Furthermore, we acknowledge that the probabilistic damage system introduced by Dragunov creates variables beyond players' control, possibly deviating from the intended gameplay experience."

Moving forward, Krafton said it wants more community involvement when it comes to factoring players' opinions into the direction of the game. To kick that off, a survey about the Dragunov situation is live right now.

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