PUBG interactive smoke changes how grenades work

PUBG: Battlegrounds is on the brink of make smoke grenades much more attention-grabbing, and possibly lots much less reliable, with the arrival of its new Interactive Smoke system.

PUBG Studios has proven off the incoming characteristic in a brand new video, giving gamers a clearer take a look at one of many greater gameplay modifications coming to the battle royale this 12 months. As a substitute of smoke appearing like a easy gray wall that blocks sight till it fades away, the brand new system permits it to react to what’s occurring round it.

Meaning explosions, autos, and different battlefield chaos can push smoke round or briefly clear sections of it, creating gaps the place beforehand there would have been secure cowl. In basic PUBG phrases, that revive you thought was hidden behind a smoke grenade may all of the sudden turn into lots much less intelligent if somebody begins chucking explosives into it.

The characteristic was first outlined in PUBG’s 2026 roadmap, the place the developer described Interactive Smoke as one of many headline in-game additions deliberate for the 12 months. The concept is to make smoke grenades behave extra like bodily objects on this planet, fairly than static visible blockers. Smoke can sway within the wind, shift beneath strain, and be dispersed by explosions.

That might have a reasonably main affect on the rhythm of fights. Smoke has lengthy been one among PUBG’s most vital survival instruments, particularly for reviving teammates, crossing open floor, looting beneath strain, or breaking line of sight throughout late-game circles. As soon as the brand new system arrives, gamers might have to suppose more durable about the place they throw it and what may disturb it.

It also needs to give attacking gamers extra choices. Relatively than merely ready out a smoke display screen or firing blindly into it, groups could possibly use grenades or autos to open up visibility and drive opponents to maneuver. That appears like precisely the sort of messy, tactical wrinkle PUBG nonetheless does higher than most battle royale video games when it’s firing correctly.

Interactive Smoke is at the moment listed for PC on June 17, with the console rollout following on June 25. It kinds a part of PUBG’s wider 2026 plans, which additionally embody new tactical methods, modifications to current gear, and extra updates designed to deepen the sport’s core firefights.

For a recreation that constructed its identify on tense, scrappy, improvised survival, making even smoke grenades much less predictable seems like a wise transfer. Additionally, frankly, a merciless one. However that’s PUBG, isn’t it?