Update 36.1: Ranked Revamp and Weapon Chaos

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: PUBG’s Update 36.1 felt like the game took a deep breath and rearranged half of its furniture. Even now in 2026, when I queue into Ranked, I still feel the echoes of that patch. The Ranked revamp alone was a whole season’s worth of chaos, but the weapon changes and vehicle tweaks were the kind of stuff that makes you yell at your monitor in the best way. Let me walk you through the whole thing like we are comparing loadouts in the pregame lobby.

First, the maintenance windows gave us a little breathing room. PC players had June 11, 00:00 - 08:30 UTC, while console folks waited until June 19, 01:00 - 09:00 UTC. Times were subject to change, and honestly, they always are.

Ranked Season 36: A Fresh Start

Season 36 did not just tweak Ranked; it basically flipped the board. The leaderboard reset after live server maintenance, and I loved checking my final tier from the previous season through the Career page before jumping back in.

AWM ranked weapon skins were added as permanent Tier Rewards, which made sniping mains very happy.

Ranked also got a pile of new features: Match Log, Throwables Cooking Timer UI, the Recall system, Red Zone, the ability to call in a BRDM-2 with a Flare Gun, Tactical Pack, EMT Gear, All-In-One Repair Kit, Inflatable Boat, C4, and the Zipline Gun. These additions also applied to Custom Match - Esports Mode.

Tier changes were huge. Crystal and Survivor Tiers were added, and divisions per tier went from 5 down to 4. Survivor Tier promotion was strict: both live RP and leaderboard RP had to be 3700 or higher, plus you needed to rank within the designated top players for your region. Tier Protection did not apply to Survivor Tier, so if your live RP dropped below 3700, you got demoted to Master immediately. If you climbed back before the next leaderboard update, you were promoted back.

Rewards also changed. The Ranked Parachute skin became a Tier Reward for Gold or higher, and you could see both current tier and previous season highest tier right in the lobby. Ranked Play Point Rewards switched from automatic delivery to manual collection, so unclaimed rewards expired at season end. Duo mode was added across regions with some limits, and Solo mode was removed from the AS region. RP was unified across Duo/Squad and FPP/TPP, and everyone’s RP reset to 1500 at the start of Season 36. The gain/loss range was adjusted to -44 ~ +44, and penalties for team kills and suicides started deducting RP directly.

Weapon Tuning: AUG, VSS, and Friends

Weapon balance got spicy. The AUG damage went from 41 to 40, and its aim punch was reduced by about 50 percent. The VSS got buffed: damage from 43 to 45, muzzle velocity from 330m/s to 430m/s, zeroing intervals from 25m to 100m, max zeroing up to 300m, and damage falloff now starts at 50m instead of 0m. The Muzzle Brake vertical recoil control went from +8% to +10%.

World spawn changes shook things up. VSS, Mini14, Sawed-Off, SCAR-L, S12K, and Vector started spawning on all maps. Meanwhile, Win94 became Karakin only, G36C stayed on Vikendi, QBU on Sanhok, DP-28 on Paramo, PP-19 Bizon on Erangel, and Mosin Nagant on Deston.

Gunplay Labs focused on DMR rebalancing. It ran in Intense Battle Royale with TPP only and Squad only. DMR drop rates from Random DMR/SR Crates increased. Damage was reduced by about 12 percent, and RPM was reduced by about 45 percent, except for the Dragunov and Mk14. Arcade Points were granted for play sessions, which was a nice bonus.

Red Zone and Vehicle Chaos

The Red Zone got less annoying over time. The size and number of explosions gradually decreased each time the Red Zone was created. That was a welcome change for anyone who had ever been deleted by RNG bombs.

Vehicle actions became more consistent. Throwables could be used from the driver’s seat of all vehicles, with throws limited to a fixed direction and no Cooking Timer UI. Vehicle movement speed started affecting throw distance. Handguns became usable from the driver’s seat in watercraft, but the Flare Gun, Zipline Gun, and M79 were not allowed. Melee throws also opened up from driver and non-driver seats on several vehicles. Maximum reverse speed was reduced for most vehicles, which nerfed the infamous reverse-into-compound tactic.

Loot, Cosmetics, and Quality of Life

Vending Machines and Destructible Pots were added to Normal Match and Ranked. The Rin Jiang map was removed due to a high leave rate, and map selection probabilities were slightly readjusted. Supply Drops changed too: red drops now contain the Panzerfaust and Mortar while attachments were removed, and yellow drops now contain the All-In-One Repair Kit.

Console players finally got the Same Language Team feature for Normal Match Duo and Squad modes. Black Market returned with Progressive weapon skins and Chromas craftable through Special Crafting at the Workshop. The Crafter Pass came back with more rewards, and the Currency Selection feature let players choose between G-Coin and BP for select Store items.

Weekly Supply missions were added to the Event Center, letting players earn up to 23,000 BP every week. Contraband Coupon purchases started granting 10 Scrap per crate. The Assist UI was added to Custom Match modes, Customize filters improved, and a bunch of bug fixes cleaned up issues with revives, Blue Zone damage, Sanhok terrain, and vehicle wheels.

Overall, Update 36.1 was one of those patches that made PUBG feel fresh without losing its identity. It gave Ranked players a real reason to grind, and it made me actually think twice about my weapon choices again.