Ever since the beginning of PUBG competitive scene, Erangel and Miramar have been the standard maps in every tournament. They are the earliest maps in PUBG and both have a size of 8 x 8 km. Now, in order to add some diversity, from Phase 3 forward, Sanhok will be added to the competitive map pool.
Over the last year, Sanhok has been the most played map in PUBG. Sanhok only has a size of 4 x4, so the way professional teams play in this map will be very different with more regular close-ranged combats, unlike the other two maps.
From now on, Sanhok is an official competitive map
In order to make this decision, the developer has been consulting top professionals PUBG players and analyzed their feedback about meta and strategy changes. These are the issues that they have been considering:
"Will players be rewarded of good skill level?
Is the RNG element of the map too strong?
How will the meta change with the addition of Sanhok?
Will the meta change based on the skill level of the players?
How long will it take for the players to adapt to the new map?"
Due to a small map size, Sanhok offers a faster game pace
By adding Sanhok to the map pool, tournaments and league structure can become more diverse. Also, Sanhok has different Blue Zone settings to Erangel and Miramar, which leads to faster game pace, different match patterns, and more team fights. Matches on Sanhok last for 23 minutes on average, 7 minutes shorter than the average match time in Erangel or Miramar. Combats will happen much sooner and more teams will be eliminated in the early phase.
Professional teams will need to play differently in Sanhok
One more thing that Sanhok is going to change is the gap between live settings and Esports settings. The settings of Erangel and Miramar in PUBG tournaments is very different from live settings. However, this settings gap in Sanhok is minimum, which helps casual players to try out what the pros do in tournament matches.
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