Details on the Innovative Xbox Control Scheme for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Xbox Wire.

Veteran players of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on PC are no doubt aware of the in-game inventory management and upgrades mixed with high-stakes gunplay that has made the game great. Translating these mechanics down to the Xbox One controller has been a challenge, but the team at PUBG Corp. — with support from the Xbox Advanced Technology Group and The Coalition, developers of the Gears of War franchise — believe they’ve found the right balance between giving players enough flexibility to survive in the hostile battleground and to effectively manage in-game equipment on the fly.

The first key thing to remember is that to see these controls, change look sensitivity, or invert the look axis simply hold the Menu button while in a match to bring up the in-game menu.

Basic

These will be your primary controls when navigating the world. Note that many of the buttons have a dual-purpose by either quickly pressing or holding down. For example, holding X will allow you to reload your weapon; tapping X will allow you to interact with objects. You’ll be interacting with a lot of objects in-game, quickly picking up items as fast as you can in the early going as you’re looking for weapons and equipment.

Notice that the DPAD directions can be used as quick action keys to cycle between for your grenades and healing items. For healing and boosts, tap the DPAD down button to cycle what you have and then hold briefly to start using that item without opening your inventory screen. Also, as is common in 3rd person action shooters, holding the Left Trigger will increase your accuracy while still in 3rd person view. Like the default on the PC, to aim down your weapon’s sights or scope for precision accuracy, tap the left trigger to enter the aiming mode and tap again to exit.

Aim

When in Aim mode, the controls shift to primarily cater to those who have found themselves a nice perch to look for opponents, with options to hold breath and the utilization of the DPAD to change modes of fire (e.g. single shot). Note how both the LT and RT will be working together for you to use grenades while in Aim mode.

Vehicle

The development team looked to keep this aspect as straight-forward as possible, modeling the controls after similar multiplayer shooters that have a driving component. Note that this is when you’re behind the wheel or in a vehicle — if you want to enter a vehicle, you’ll press X to interact with the vehicle’s doors. To quickly jump to the driver seat from any seat in the vehicle, briefly hold A button to get buckled in.

Swim

Swimming is a full body effort when you’re navigating the currents in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, so the ability to use your weapon while in water cannot be possible. You can, however, interact with any loot that you find while underwater for you to add to your inventory. Just remember to Dive (B button) to avoid being detected by enemies.

Map

One of the key elements of PUBG throughout the course of the match is the reduction of the Blue Zone throughout the game. This area is randomly chosen in every match, so consulting your map about where that location is for you to get to safety is vital for your long(er)-term survival. Also, consult the map to avoid Red Zones as those randomly appear as well. You don’t want to fall victim to napalm from the sky.

Inventory

Switching between columns in your inventory guide (RB/LB) will be a key component as you move through your equipment and supplies while in-game. Use the A button to pick up a weapon from the inventory UI, then select which highlighted slot you’d like to place it, then press A again. The key here is that pressing X picks up items into your bag like ammo and attachments, A swaps and equips items with your current loadout, and Y always drops the selected or highlighted item.

To easily strip all attachments from your weapons, simply highlight the weapon in your inventory and hold X. This will place all attachments back into your inventory bag. This keeps them available to place on your next weapon of choice. You can also hold Y to strip all the attachments to the ground if your bag is too full before grabbing your new weapon.

We hope you’ve liked this early look at the controls for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Note that while these are the controls for PUBG‘s launch to Xbox Game Preview, PUBG Corp. will be monitoring all community feedback and may adjust some of these as necessary and your feedback will be key.

We can’t wait to see you on the island starting on Tuesday, December 12!