PUBG Ranks Explained – Understand the PUBG Ranking System
9 minutes
Last Updated: May 29, 2024
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, better known as PUBG, is one of the most-played video games of all time. This masterpiece sold more than 75 million copies and its mobile version was downloaded more than 1 billion times.
PUBG is also an esport that features around a dozen tournaments per year. Most of them have prizes ranging from $250.000 to $500.000, but the world championship offers several million dollars.
The 2022 edition, which took place November 1-20, was called the PUBG Global Championship, and it offered $3.36 million in prize money.
Because it’s a competitive game, PUBG has a complex ranking system that seeks to evaluate players based on their skill level and then generate fair matches between them. The better you are, the higher your rank will be.
If you want to climb the PUBG ladder faster, this guide will give you a better understanding of PUBG ranks and the PUBG ranking system.
What Is PUBG
PUBG is a Battle Royale game that was fully released at the end of 2017. The game was developed by PUBG Studios and was published on PC (by Krafton), mobile (by Tencent Games), and Xbox One (by Microsoft Studios).
Its popularity these days is enormous and it’s easy to understand why, if you play it even for a couple of hours.
The game uses the Battle Royale game mode as its main competitive mode and can be played either individually or in a team versus team format. Furthermore, there are multiple types of teams that you can form.
At the professional level, PUBG is usually played between teams of 4 players and a match generally features 16 teams or 64 players in total. The goal of each team is to be the last one standing.
Points are awarded for getting a high rank but also for eliminations. The more players you kill, the more points you get. So the system encourages players to be active and the best ones usually are.
However, to avoid getting killed early it’s a good idea to move slowly and to try to equip yourself as best you can before searching for your first duel.
How PUBG Is Played
In a PUBG match, the available area of the map shrinks as time goes on, forcing players to engage in combat. The game rewards proactive behavior but this can also get you killed. You need to know when to stay hidden and when to roam.
The goal is to be among the last that gets killed or, why not, be the last man (or team) standing. If you start fighting early on, you’ll have an equipment advantage over someone who has never entered battle with anyone.
In PUBG, when you kill a player, you get to steal all of his equipment. This is the essence of the Battle Royale system. You progress faster if you win battles and you have a better chance of snowballing to a decisive victory.
You can think of PUBG as a fish tank. The fish that starts eating other fish sooner grows stronger and can easily eat the rest as well.
Like other FPS games, PUBG revolves around guns and equipment. The better guns you find, the stronger you become and the easiest it is to win duels. But a lot is based on individual skill.
You need to know how to aim properly, how to move safely, how to stay hidden, and much more.
PUBG is played in an open space and this makes duels quite challenging. You might get killed by a well-positioned sniper if you’re not careful. Or you might be caught off-guard by a player who is hiding behind a corner.
The duel scenarios are similar to those in CS:GO, except the possibilities are much more versatile.
The Various PUBG Ranks
Like other esports, PUBG has multiple ranks and resets the ranks of its players at the end of every season.
However, this is a soft reset, which basically means that the system still knows approximately how good you are and will take this into account when trying to determine your new season PUBG rank.
The available PUBG ranks are listed below:
- Bronze: anything below 1500 points
- Silver: 1500 – 1999 points
- Gold: 2000 – 2499 points
- Platinum: 2500 – 2999 points
- Diamond: 3000 – 3499 points
- Master: 3500+ points
- Grandmaster: the top 500 players on the ladder
This system is commonly used in esports and it’s actually derived from games like chess. Worldwide, there are only 1771 chess Grandmasters and to reach that level you need to possess a lot of knowledge about the game.
The PUBG ranking system works in a similar way, so you shouldn’t expect to reach the Grandmaster level in the first few months.
Even if you’re an expert at another Battle Royale game such as Fortnite, or another FPS game such as CS:GO, you will still need at least 5000 hours of practice to become one of the best PUBG players in the world.
Each PUBG rank tier is further divided into 5 divisions. Each player’s current rank is determined by how many rank points they have. To gain RP, you must perform well in ranked matches.
How the PUBG Ranks & Ranking System Work
In PUBG, rank points are gained or lost based on individual performance. The key variables taken into account include kills, assists, and placement.
If you win a game, you’re obviously a pretty good player relative to the skill level of other players from the same rank.
At the end of each season, players get various rewards based on how many rank points they had at the end of that season. The top 500 players get additional rewards for being the best PUBG competitors in the world.
If you compete in the Bronze – Platinum rank tiers, there’s no expectation of how much you need to play to maintain your rank.
But starting with the Diamond tier, after 7 days of inactivity your rank starts to decay. Every day, you lose points. And you continue to lose points until you play another match.
On the surface, the system seems quite punishing. But the reality is that you can avoid having your rank decay by simply playing one PUBG match per week, which is not that difficult.
If you ever get to the Diamond tier, you’ll probably play a lot more than one match anyway.
The whole notion of rank decay is rather naïve, as the best players tend to play the highest number of matches on a weekly basis.
But for the sake of keeping the ranks relevant even in those rare scenarios where one high-rank player stops competing after achieving his high rank, PUBG Studios decided to introduce this rule.
How to Get Better a PUBG & Improve Your PUBG Ranks
Getting better at PUBG requires you to master several skills. We’ll list some of the most important ones here.
Shooting
There are all kinds of guns that you can use in this game and each of them shoots differently. You will need to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon and then use it appropriately.
Some guns are excellent from afar while others are good at close range. Each type of weapon needs to be utilized optimally if you want to succeed.
For instance, you can’t play against a sniper using a pistol. You will need to find a much better gun that can effectively kill from afar. Otherwise you’re at a big disadvantage.
Hiding
Every now and then, you will find yourself in an excellent position and your goal will be to simply not die until 20 or 30 players get killed. That requires you to master the art of staying hidden. It may sound easy but it can be quite tricky.
In PUBG, there are lots of angles that you can be shot from and you should always find a place where your back is safe and ideally, one of the other three directions.
If you can be safe by simply watching forward and to your left or your right, your odds of staying alive are much better.
When you hide, it’s important to keep in mind the map restrictions and never get caught by the progressive shrinking of the map. The battlefield is similar to that of any real situation.
If you can hold the high ground, you have the advantage. If you can find a good place to hide and not be affected by the ever-shrinking battlefield, you will get much better placements.
Moving
You don’t want to be a sitting duck. But you shouldn’t turn yourself into a walking one either. Always keep in mind that whenever you move, you become an easy target.
In PUBG, movement doesn’t really help that much with dodging bullets. And as soon as someone sees you, 5-10 bullets might be enough for them to put eliminate you.
Mastering good movement takes time. And part of it has to do with understanding the map you are playing on, as the possibilities are dictated by its characteristics.
If you’re in an area full of trees, it will be harder for the opponent to kill you. He will need to shoot you through the trees, which makes things much harder. But if you’re in an open space, how do you hide?
Communication
Communication is a very important skill to develop if you’re playing with a team. When you’re on your own, this game turns into something similar to StarCraft 2 and all that matters is your strategy, tactics, and your ability to execute them properly.
But if you have three other teammates, synchronizing with them becomes important.
PUBG is very similar to CS:GO and other FPS games when it’s played in this way. Before you try to master it as a team game, you should try to master it as a solo player.
The problem, however, is that PUBG is very fun to play with friends. So it’s much harder to play on your own than to invite a few friends to play with you.
Equipment
The best PUBG players understand every piece of gear that you can use and know how to find it. The game is partly won through intelligent searching for better equipment. The sooner you get your hands on a great gun, the higher your odds of success.
That’s why you should learn what is available to you at different stages of a match and how you can progress quickly.
The goal is to always be well-equipped and in a good position. If you can achieve these two goals faster than other players, you will rank high in matches and your PUBG rank will increase very quickly.
Attitude
In the beginning, you shouldn’t worry too much about your PUBG level. Reaching the top PUBG levels will take years and you can only do it if you become more skilled.
But to gain skill, you need to allow yourself to make mistakes and lose a lot of winnable matches.
If you don’t know how to maintain your composure after a loss, you won’t last very long. Because the Battle Royale system guarantees that in most cases, you will get eliminated at some point and you will need to start again.
This is perhaps the hardest aspect of the game. You need to accept the fact that you might lose 20 minutes of progress because of one tiny error. And then have the willingness to start a
