Today via the official PUBG Europe Twitter account, it was announced that for the first time ever Xbox and Playstation PUBG players will be able to play with and against on another in the game. This has been made possible with a public test server, which will allow the developer, PUBG Corporation, to work out the best way to correctly implement the feature across the live servers in the future. Check out the official Tweet below, and read on for more details.
Console Players: Update 4.3 is now available on live servers!
This update also brings Cross Platform Play, allowing PlayStation and Xbox players to be entered into the same matchmaking pool, as well as Survival Mastery, the DBS, and more!
Patch notes: https://t.co/b6ckwGof3d pic.twitter.com/aYXmnU0NGr
— PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Europe (@PUBG_EU) October 1, 2019
With PUBG Update 4.3 the public test servers where Xbox and Playstation players can play together have been made available to all PUB players. The public test server is a new element to PUBG, and needs to be downloaded separately for both Xbox and Playstation players. Xbox players who already own PUB need to search for the term, ‘PUBG – Public Test Server’, in the Microsoft Store, or the My Games and Apps section. Likewise, Playstation 4 PUBG players need to go to their library and search for, ‘PUBG – Public Test Server’, in the Library section of the home screen, where they will find it and can download it. Once the apps have been downloaded it will be possible to play with and against PUBG players on a completely different platform.
Within the game players will be able to identify Playstation and Xbox players with an icon that appears next to their name when a notification pops up. These notifications will also feature in the game’s leaderboards, allowing players to see which players performed best on an overall basis, and by each platform.
Update 4.3 also brings some improvements, new features, and bug fixes to PUBG. If you’re interested in checking out the full list of patch notes, they can be found here.
What is a Public Test Server?
A public test sever is just that, a test server that the public are able to access. Prior to making the test server public there will have been a lot of testing between Xbox and Playstation cross-play internally with PUBG Corporation. Now however, the developer is clearly happy enough with the technology that they are willing to let the public test the feature in the wild of the live game. A public test server is much larger than the internal test server would have been, and so will provide better test data on the cross-play feature.
Why use a Public Test Server?
Developers are opting to use public test servers more and more because they allow players to feel like they’re part of the game they love. By making a feature live in a test environment, players can test it out with the knowledge that there will be bugs and things that need fixing, but by reporting these issues they are helping with the overall development of the game. PUBG originally launched for PC as an early access game, and the feedback over that time the game was in early access is what made it the title it is today.
A public test server allows developers to scale up the features they’ve been working on to realistic levels of players that the feature will need to cope with when it’s fully released. BioWare used a public test server with their Cataclysm event, opening it up for PC players prior to the implementation of the event in order to gather feedback, test out mechanics, and ultimately make something that the players really enjoyed when it launched.