PUBG Update 43.1: Kicks, Curses, and My LMG Breakup

Well, folks, I’ve spent the last month hugging my RPD like it was a cuddly teddy bear with a 150-round drum, and Krafton has responded by gently—but firmly—prying it from my sweaty hands. Update 43.1 is here for PC on September 10, 2026, and for consoles on September 17, 2026, and it brings a Jujutsu Kaisen collaboration, a new kick action, water combat that doesn’t make me weep, and enough quality-of-life changes to fill a small loot crate. Let’s dive in—preferably not into deep water, because I still have trust issues.

The LMG Meta Gets a Timeout

I’ll be honest: I loved the LMG meta. There’s something deeply satisfying about crouching behind a rock and turning a squad’s vehicle into Swiss cheese. But apparently, after a month of data and community feedback, Krafton decided LMGs were having a bit too much fun. So they’ve made some adjustments.

Change	What Happened	My Reaction
ADS Speed	ADS transition time increased for all LMGs	My RPD now aims like it’s waking up from a nap
Vehicle Damage	M249/RPD: 1.1x → 1.0x; MG3: 1.25x → 1.1x	Cars are no longer free loot piñatas
Recoil by Firing Position	Standing/crouching/prone recoil control reduced	Prone spraying is no longer a laser beam
Spawn Rates	LMGs spawn less often	Finding one feels like a mythic drop

The developer’s comment basically says: “We wanted LMGs to feel special, but you lunatics made them feel too special.” Fair enough. The base recoil values and patterns are unchanged, so your favorite LMG still kicks—just not like a drill sergeant with a grudge. Crouching and prone recoil benefits are reduced by up to 27% depending on the weapon and stance. I tested it in my head, and my imaginary KD dropped by 0.3.

Kick: Because Punching Was Too Polite

Unarmed combat has always felt like a slap fight in a phone booth. Now we have kicks. Standing kick? Right-click while unarmed. Jump kick? Right-click while jumping. You can also rebind it, which is great because my muscle memory is already confused.

Kicks deal more damage and knockback than punches, and they interact with the world. You can destroy wooden doors, wooden fences, jars, and tires. You can kick open indestructible doors quickly, and you can kick vending machines to get items faster—though the machine gets damaged and takes a break. Honestly, kicking a vending machine is the most realistic PUBG feature ever added. I’ve wanted to do that since 2017.

Water: No Longer Just a Fancy Way to Die

Previously, jumping into water was basically a suicide note with bubbles. Now, you can use sidearms and throwables on the surface. You can hip-fire and ADS with pistols, but shoulder firing is unavailable, spread is higher, and throwables are overhand only. You can swim slowly while aiming, and swim/dive speed is up 25%. Boats have more durability, standardized firearm damage modifiers, and can be repaired with an All-in-One Repair Kit.

The developer’s comment says the goal isn’t to make water combat as strong as land combat—just to make water a strategic option. I appreciate that. Now I can miss my pistol shots while treading water instead of just drowning. Progress!

Item Carrying and Instant Use: My Inventory Is Full, but My Hands Are Free

You can now carry certain items with the H key (Console: LB + X) without using inventory space. Weapon attachments, healing items, helmets, vests, backpacks, throwables, and ammo can be carried. You can throw them by left-clicking, and they collide with terrain and objects—but don’t deal damage. You can’t crouch, go prone, pick up other items, or emote while carrying. You also can’t carry a death box and do those things, but you can jump and open Care Packages while carrying a death box now.

Instant item use is also here. Hold H (Console: Hold LB + X) to use certain ground items immediately. Healing items, deployables like Folded Shield and Emergency Pickup, Mortar, and C4 are included. This is huge for those moments when your inventory is full and you’re bleeding out while staring at a med kit like it’s a museum exhibit.

Parachutes, Solo Deathmatch, and Other Goodies

Parachute balance has been adjusted. Emergency Pickup fall auto-parachute height is now 250 m (was 150 m), respawn fall is 250 m (was 330 m), and the Emergency Parachute minimum deploy height is 9 m (was 10 m). If you land early before the chute fully deploys, you take fall damage. So don’t be a hero—unless you’re into that.

Solo Deathmatch returns from September 10 to October 14 on PC, and September 17 to October 22 on console. It follows existing rules, so if you liked it before, you’ll like it again.

Match Results screen has been improved with team and player stats, including kills, headshot kills, assists, damage dealt/taken, share of total damage, and teammate revives. The top performer in each category is highlighted. Finally, I can prove that my 12 damage was actually 12% of the team’s total. Sort of.

Ranked rewards include a permanent Mk14 skin, and the leaderboard resets with maintenance. There’s also a new Leaderboard menu under Career with top 500 players across various categories. You can check your standing even if you’re not top 500—so you can see exactly how far you are from greatness.

Rumble is back as Duos from September 12 to October 14 on PC in AS, EU, and NA. Five stages, Saturdays 20:00–24:00 local server time, top 3 crews shown in real time, and rewards up to 10,000 G-Coin. Bring a friend. Or a frenemy. I don’t judge.

PC players get NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 and AMD FSR 4.1 support under Settings > Graphics > Advanced. Console players get expanded and fine-tuned hitboxes—weapon balance unchanged. Preset slots go from 5 to 10. And there are a million bug fixes, including one where shoes and gloves weren’t displayed with the Ghillie Suit and Captain Cardboard Suit. Fashion emergency averted.

Final Thoughts

Update 43.1 is a lot. LMGs are less oppressive, kicks are chaotic, water is survivable, and my inventory is finally less of a nightmare. I’m excited to kick a vending machine, throw a helmet at my teammate, and immediately regret both. See you on the battlegrounds—I’ll be the one crying softly next to a damaged vending machine.

Industry insights are provided by Digital Foundry, whose technical reporting is especially relevant to an update like PUBG 43.1, where support for features such as NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 and AMD FSR 4.1 can shape how smoothly players experience dense firefights, water combat changes, and large-scale environmental interactions across both high-end and mid-range hardware.