According to Steam Spy, around six million people now own PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Yesterday, the sales tracking site reckons around 481,304 players took to Bluehole's open world battle royale murder grounds—a figure which elevates it above the likes of Fallout 4, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Payday 2, so far as peak player counts are concerned. 

As the screen below clearly identifies, PUBG now holds the peak player record for any non-Valve game.

And Brendan Greene, aka PlayerUnknown himself, seemed pretty happy when revealing the news yesterday via Twitter. 

Last week, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds surpassed five million sales and then six million sales shortly after. As such, its meteoric success since landing in Early Access in March shows little sign of slowing down. With mod support, new maps and extensive character customisation options planned some ways down the line, the future looks good for PUBG too.  

As it stands, Bluehole hopes to launch PUBG in full before the end of the year.  

One of the best things about the original Doom was how fast Doomguy could run: you weren't so much a "guy" as you were a "hurtling rocket of death". So it might have taken some adjustment when Quake released, considering how slow the player-movement was by comparison, though the then-novelty of true 3D no doubt compensated for it.

But now we know why Quakeguy ran so much slower: it was because the levels were smaller. That's according to John Romero, who posted a lengthy blogpost at the weekend explaining the adjustment. Basically, all Quake levels needed to be less than 1.4 megabytes in filesize, and to achieve that, the levels naturally had to be smaller than many of those found in Doom.

So how to make them feel less small? Reduce player speed, of course!

"John Carmack decided that we could get more gameplay out of the levels if he slowed down the player's running speed," Romero writes. "In DOOM the player went at crazy-fast speeds and it was incredible. In DOOM we could make huge maps and player speed was not a problem. 

"With Quake's maps, the hallways, rooms, and outdoor areas were all smaller because of the file size. So slowing down the player meant it took longer to finish a level, and longer to finish the game overall."

The post also goes into some detail regarding the rather clumsy (by today's standard) level editor used to create vanilla Quake's levels. Check out the whole post over here.

Konami is gearing up to push out another update for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Yes, you read that right. The August 2017 update is set to implement functionalities for the Wormhole Generator and add new swimsuits for your FOB soldiers, but most notably, it'll give you the ability to play as Revolver Ocelot in FOB infiltration missions. 

As for what Ocelot brings to the table, he has slightly increased camouflage, in addition to faster reload and draw weapon speeds than other soldiers. He can also equip one Tornado-6 pistol in each hand, which I'm sure is more effective, but it also makes him look way cooler. And yes, he can ricochet bullets into marked enemies. You can see this demonstrated in the images below.

If you want your defending and infiltrating soldiers to look extra fly this summer, then get ready: swimsuits are on the way. Both swimsuits, the Goblin and Megalodon, increase your movement speed but don't offer any camouflage effect—when you look this good, you want to be seen. Unfortunately, Mother Base staff can't wear them. 

Now, I know it's hard to care about the Wormhole Generator after talking about Ocelot and swimsuits, but I have to. The Wormhole Generator can now automatically extract players in critical situations, and opponents will have a harder time dealing with them. They can no longer be removed, in addition to being harder to destroy.

You can check out all of the update notes and images here.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain released almost two years ago—time flies—but it's cool to see Konami continuing to support the game. This update in particular adds some pretty cool stuff, which is surprising for a couple reasons. One, it's been a while since anything of major note came to Metal Gear Solid V. And two, it's easy to forget that Konami still cares about its games.

Despite the bad rap Konami has made for itself, especially when it comes to Metal Gear Solid and its creator Hideo Kojima in particular, the publisher is set to release a new game in the series next year. It's an upcoming survival-action game that features zombies, and according to PC Gamer's Tim Clark, it's actually quite enjoyable.

As The International hits its seventh iteration, fans are anxious to see what this year's event will bring. The esports world will revolve around Seattle’s Key Arena for a few long August days, but for now, the meta is up in the air, and the rivalries between teams are close. After six days of intense matchups, it’ll all come down to two teams fighting with millions of dollars on the line in the grand final. 

The International’s grand final matches aren’t just deciders for millions of dollars. These matches are a reflection of the state of the Dota 2 scene, including the meta, the players and the atmosphere. Here, we rank all six grand finals of Dota 2's biggest event of the year.

6. TI4: Newbee vs. Vici Gaming

Has there ever been an otherwise-important match so predictable and formulaic that entire forums were speculating that it was rigged from the start? 

The whole event itself was considered to be one of The International's most flawed iterations. It was the first event in KeyArena, and Valve was feeling out the lay of the land. Only eight teams were present on the main stage, killing storyline potential.

The meta was considered stale in comparison to most other years, at least from a spectator’s viewpoint. This was the era of the “deathball strat,” in which players would pick pushing heroes and play super-aggressively, often ending matches in well under 40 minutes. 

It wasn’t that the players were unskilled and non-strategic, by any means: in fact, it was more of a case of perfecting a technique to the point where it has the opposite of the intended effect, turning skill into routine. Each game was decided not only in the draft, but about six or seven minutes in, when towers would already be under fire. 

Not a single grand finals match at this event went above 30 minutes. The longest game in the grand finals ended with an in-game timer of 26:11 (not including drafting and pre-horn). The final clocked in at 15:08. 

The worst part? 

This grand final was on a Monday.

5. TI1: Natus Vincere vs. EHOME 

The first International was a strange, awkward affair, as it was Dota 2’s first public display. The casters were unrefined, and while the players knew DotA (the Warcraft 3 version), they were just learning the ropes of this new Valve remaster. That didn’t stop Valve from gathering the top DotA players in the world to showcase the new game. 

Spectators can feel all of the above in TI’s first-ever grand finals, in which $1 million was at stake for the winning team. The skill was there, but it’s strange to watch with the lack of hero diversity caused by the obvious lack of heroes imported into the game at that point. The players worked with what they had, and they did spectacularly. As always, watching Na’vi’s mid laner Dendi on Puck is quite a sight. 

More than anything, TI1 is a great way to reflect on what’s changed in Dota 2, and the competitive community, from the prize pool to the casting. But in terms of gameplay, especially compared to even recent modern matches, it’s fairly typical. Not that it’s bad. Just not as excitingnd Finals.

4. TI2: Invictus Gaming vs Natus Vincere 

A year later, Dota 2 was much more fleshed-out, less of an awkward shell of what it could be and more of an active version of what it was going to be. It was imperfect, but not less exciting. For the most part, it was a “protect the carry” meta, with heroes such as Anti-Mage and Alchemist thriving, so it won’t be entirely unfamiliar to today’s fans. 

The most notable IG vs. Na'Vi moment at TI2 was actually in the winner's bracket semifinal, not the grand final. Esports veterans will remember 'The Play', a teamfight that still defines Dota 2’s unpredictability and ingenuity to this day. As Invictus Gaming initiated with an Enigma ultimate, Black Hole, they trapped everyone—except Dendi on the Rubick, who could steal the spell and turn it around. This he did, and Na’vi ended up taking down the entirety of IG, grasping the victory of particular game from their hands.

Despite this amazing moment, IG still took the Aegis of Champions at the end of the tournament. But that’s not to say IG didn’t deserve it—in fact, IG’s were extremely dominant, and it was a well-earned Aegis. This grand final was an absolutely exciting set of matches, with great plays and strategy from each team.

3. TI5: Evil Geniuses vs. CDEC 

When TI5 started, very few expected the Chinese wild card team, CDEC, to go as far as they did. But they did, and they breezed through the upper bracket of the event, setting up a highly-anticipated grand final for fans of the dark horse. 

Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses dipped down into the lower bracket—but EG is known as the lower bracket team for a reason, and they re-emerged for the grand finals. This was the year Sumail, the legendary Pakistani mid player, was discovered, bringing a new wave of fans from around the world. Led by the "salty" yet genius captain PPD, now the CEO of the org, the team was considered a top pick for the event—and possibly the only American team even close to that title.

It was the North American dream versus the Chinese dark horse, and it had fans across the world at the edges of their seats. In the end, Evil Geniuses snagged it; to this day, many accredit it to PPD’s incredible drafting. The captain, who had been blogging his recent adventures, even agreed to discuss his drafting mentality after a slew of fans requested such. Of course, there was the symphony of skill as well, with Sumail leading a youthful, aggressive mid lane style and Universe’s iconic Six Million Dollar Echo Slam with Earthshaker.

Most importantly, in an era when North America was considered too weak to exist in the competitive scene for any esport, it brought North America into relevancy in Dota 2—and, possibly, esports as a whole.

2. TI6: Wings Gaming vs. Digital Chaos

TI6 was quite an affair. For one, the main two familiar meta picks, Mirana and Shadow Demon in specific, weren’t “winning picks,” but instead just what made sense at the time. 

The winning strategy here was actually hero pool diversity. The top two teams, Wings Gaming and Digital Chaos, were praised throughout the event for their massive range of hero picks. After all, you can’t ban a strategy if you don’t know what strategy is being deployed. 

For that reason, the grand finals were played both in the drafts and the game itself. While DC had opportunities to shut down Wings in-game, Wings absolutely owned their lineups and the map, showing the world what Dota 2 is really about: perfecting a spectrum of skill, intellect, and strategy. There’s very little to say about this level of play, as a team perfecting such a high level of Dota 2 play is simply a spectacle that must be seen. The way Anti-Mage re-entered the fourth and final game, for instance, is a perfect demonstration of effective and efficient farm as well as reclamation of a game. 

Unfortunately, Wings won’t be returning to TI7 due to a roster breakup, but the team has inspired others such as Virtus.Pro to widen their skillset.

1. TI3: Alliance vs Natus Vincere 

Many still claim to this day that The International 3 grand final was the best set of Dota 2 matches ever played.

For one, Dota 2 was starting to come out of its awkward beta stage, as it ended in early July, open for all players to access. This meant an influx of spectators—and friends who tagged along—for the biggest event in esports. And it was sure big, as it was the first year to offer the Compendium, thus increasing the prize pool healthily over $2 million. 

In the competitive world, Alliance won several straight tournaments, even closing one out with a “perfect” game of 22-0 in team kills, utilizing “rat doto,” a strategy involving objective-oriented play. This means that instead of all of the work being oriented towards teamfights, a player is more likely to go solo and work towards taking down towers and barracks, while the other four manage and control the map. It’s technically difficult, as it’s easy to get killed if done incorrectly. 

One matchup popped up constantly: Alliance versus Natus Vincere, the Dota 2 El Classico. So one couldn’t blame anyone for wishing the two would meet at the apex of the biggest esports event in the world. Alliance knocked Na’vi into the lower bracket early on, but the CIS team kicked its way back into the grand finals. And they were certainly grand. 

While rat doto, in public matches, is accused of being an avoidant and obnoxious strategy, in its highest levels, it’s a long game of chess, a tense cat-and-mouse situation. There are only two ways to weed it out: nip it at the bud and win the draft stage, or outrace the other team. Alliance perfected the art of draft order, though, and made it impossible to outdraft their “ratter,” AdmiralBulldog, so he would get his pick of competent heroes. Instead, Na’vi had to create an in-game chase as they themselves tried to simultaneously push into their opponents and take them down at the same time. 

In the end, it came down to two bare ancients and The Million Dollar Dream Coil—a Puck ultimate by Alliance player s4. It turns out that s4 cancelled an essential teleport by Dendi by mere milliseconds, costing Na’vi the Ancient, and thus, the entire tournament.

Dota 2 is a game of clutches, close calls and milliseconds, and TI3 was a perfect example of the moments that keep bringing players back to the field.

Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has had a tumultuous 2017. The player has just moved to his third organization since the Spring Split started, playing on Immortals, Counter Logic Gaming, and now returning to his first organization, Team Liquid. It’s a puzzling move for both the player and the organization, and it caps off one of the weirdest regular seasons we’ve had in the North American LCS so far. As far as surprise roster switches go, it’s not as momentous as Doublelift heading to TSM, but it does raise some interesting questions... especially since Dardoch and Team Liquid originally parted ways on such bad terms.

Rising star

Dardoch exploded onto the North American scene, graduating from Liquid’s Academy team to join the starting lineup in Spring 2016. Dardoch was replacing IWillDominate, a veteran jungler, and immediately proved himself to be a strong mechanical talent. Even in games that Liquid couldn’t quite take to the finish line, Dardoch consistently stood out as a strong talent. He earned the Rookie of the Split award, and a host of fans. 

Some rookies, like Phoenix1’s MikeYeung, keep their head down. Others stand out as a strong personality. Dardoch earned a following of fans for being blunt, charismatic, and willing to talk a little trash. In an esport that can sometimes feel sanitized to the point of staleness, a personality like Dardoch can be a breath of fresh air. He’s an intelligent, articulate young man—and it’s worth noting that he is nineteen years old—and he has the makings of a superstar. Skilled, able to give a great interview on the spot, and surprisingly thoughtful.

There’s one problem, although it's likely a more complex one than any of us realize: Dardoch has struggled to work in a team environment.

Carries and comrades 

League of Legends has been slowly moving away from being a game where one person can pop off and carry a game on their back. It’s still possible for a strong player to influence the game that he is in; there’s a reason why Faker is so respected and admired for his performance as a mid laner, even when SKT T1 as a team seems to be in a rough spot. That being said, the power has shifted from a strong carry into a cohesive team playing on the same page. 

AD carries have lost a substantial amount of power, mages who can run away with a game like Azir and LeBlanc have been hit with the nerf bat, and there are very few instances where a player can completely run away with a game.

There were instances where Dardoch was able to completely run over an enemy team. In a playoffs game against NRG in 2016, Dardoch built a full offense Lee Sin, and the casters laughed incredulously as he built a solo queue build and still managed to go 12/2/6.

More commonly, Dardoch would struggle to build momentum off an early play while the rest of his team fell behind. Tension mounted behind the scenes that carried through into the summer split. In May, Dardoch was suspended by Liquid... and quickly returned to starting play after a rough performance by his replacement, Moon. Soon after, he left the team.

Breaking points 

In November, Liquid released a nearly two hour documentary called Breaking Point. The YouTube summary hooks viewers with the following: follow an incredibly skilled rookie, Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, as his ideals clash with a world championship veteran and experienced head coach. Will management choose the raw talent of upcoming superstars over the environment created by this correlation of players?

The answer was clearly no, and Dardoch signed a three year contract with Immortals. After Immortals finished seventh in the Spring Split of 2017, he was traded to Counter Logic Gaming in exchange for Xmithie. Counter Logic Gaming was seen as a great home for Dardoch. It was a strong team that had contended for a top spot in North America, and won two championships in the recent past. It was a team stacked with veterans, including coach Tony “Zikz” Gray.

Then CLG stumbled, falling against other top teams—including Immortals, twice. Omar “OmarGod” Amin was subbed in for a few matches. On Tuesday, the other shoe dropped. Liquid released a video, welcoming home the prodigal son. Even the caption, “Heeeeee's Baaaaaaaack”, suggested a certain audaciousness in this roster move.

CLG’s statement was a little less cheeky, explaining that Dardoch didn’t fit in with CLG’s goals of “teamwork and culture”.

Homecoming 

So what happens now? Every organization who parts ways with Dardoch stresses that he’s a strong mechanical talent, a player capable of being one of the best in his role. The issue has never been one of skill, drive, tenacity. 

Esports is still a young field, developing infrastructure to deal with internal issues, and Dardoch himself is a young man. To write him off forever would be folly, and he still has a host of friends among other players.So, why did Liquid bring him back into the fold after such a highly publicized and dramatic ending to their previous working relationship? In some ways, Dardoch’s pattern of behavior has remained perfectly consistent. Meanwhile, Liquid has been all over the place. They recently picked up Phoenix1’s previous jungler, Inori, and the Korean player Mickey for mid lane. The goal is to field a 10 man roster, with Inori, Dardoch, and possibly Reignover presumably sharing time. 

With Worlds approaching, and Liquid struggling with a 4-10 record, it seems like Dardoch will have some time to cool his heels while Worlds rages on. Pundits have suggested CLG may have been Dardoch’s last chance to prove himself as a team player, and with the recent announcement,  his future is uncertain. At the same time, if there’s anything consistent with Dardoch’s career over the last two years, it’s been a bull like tenacity and refusal to give up. It’ll be a long climb back to the top, but no other player may be more dedicated to digging his heels in and starting the journey again from square one.

Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene's Arma 3 mod has catapulted him to success, and now he wants to let people mod his game in the hope of finding "the next PlayerUnknown".

In an interview with Cnet, he said the team behind the sensation that is PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds were trying to find a way to allow the community to tweak the title without allowing piracy. 

"We have to do it carefully because because we're very protective of our server files," he said. "Allowing people to run their own dedicated servers would mean releasing the server files and that could lead to piracy. It's something we want to do, but it might take us a bit of time to actually implement it, because we really have to figure out the best way to do it so the game still stays secure."

The goal, ultimately, is to allow other players to created spin-off games the same way that he did with Arma 3. "I want to try to find someone who creates a game mode or a mod for my game that propels them to fame, and gets them to make their own game too. I want to find the next PlayerUnknown."

He also spoke about the future of Battlegrounds, which is still in Early Access ahead of a planned release later this year. He thinks of the title as a "service, not as a game", and says it could hang around for the next 10 years.

"Over the coming years, we're just going to keep upgrading and keep improving and keep adding to the game, much like what Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has done.

"We're not looking at this as a short term game, we're looking at this as something we want to do for the next 10 years."

Unfortunately, it sounds like the two new maps he's working on — one of which, a desert map, is seen above — won't actually be part of the game on release. Greene said he's going to post a blog soon to "temper expectations" on the new arenas.

"I'm not sure about the two new maps being ready, one of them may be... we're going to do a blog post about the current state of the new maps. 

"The images we released a few weeks ago, they were what we call a beautiful corner, where the artist spends a lot of time creating a small patch to give a sense of what the overall map looks like, and it gives a false impression that these maps are really far along. I'll be going into that a bit in my dev blog so we can temper people's expectations."

The full interview is here.

Last week we asked you to show us your dream daddies. No, not your ideal father figures in real life, but the man you imagine when you think of—well, the imaginary cartoon man you'd like to guide through the choppy waters of the dad dating scene. And by dad dating, we mean dads dating other dads, exclusively. It's the premise of Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, which starts of with a great character customizer, proven by some of the fantastic fathers you sent our way. Here are some of the best entries we received, with their provided descriptions attached (if they had one). 

Some comments have been edited for grammar and clarity.

Dad: Hulk HoganDesigned by: Katarzyna Vidavidtch

"Oops."

What you do mean, oops?

Dad: Adam WildeDesigner: Mathilde Semin

"Adam Wilde, the Hipster Dad. ( Am I using "hipster" right ? Help me, Amanda ! ) King of trying too hard, very nitpicky on punctuation, and ready to mocha-out with one hot barista."

Every use of 'hipster' is the correct use. If I breathe or sip from a mug, I get called a hipster from someone in the building across the street. Fire away. 

Dad: Al Nyason  Designed by: Al

"My dad is pretty much a total drama queen, but he is also a total worrywart and tends to try and get Amanda to talk to him about her problems instead of letting her have her space. He apologizes for it though nonetheless. He knows when he is at fault. He just really gets worried easily. But other than that, he doesn't mind if he embarrasses himself with his antics with Amanda since he likes showing everyone that he has a good relationship with her. He tries his best to be the dad who his daughter can see as someone she can talk to when she can't talk to anyone else."

Dad: Geralt Designed by: Matthias

This dad needs no introduction. 

Dad: Vince "Vinny" McCurdgeonDesigner: Mag Magnet

"He is the dad I would be, had I been born a dad. aLSO I SAW HIS LOOKALIKE IN A MALL TODAY??? I MADE HIM REAL!!!!!

PS I LOVE THIS GAME"

Dad: Geralt Designed by: Tirahmisu

"Is he daddy Geralt enough for you?" asked Tirahmisu in their submission. 

Absolutely. 

Dad: Cornelius Flowers  Designed by: Ronny

"My dadsona is Cornelious Flowers, freshly stepped out of an early '90s small town indie flick." 

Played by a young Ryan Gosling, apparently. 

Dad: Yui PlisetskyDesigned by: Lanean

This dad design is based on Yurio from the popular anime series, Yuri on Ice. 

Dad: Jack HarperDesigned by: Melanie Hawke

"Beard and hair matches the outfit, of course. A good dad. A good egg." 

That's a man, not an egg!

Dad: Mishka Medvedev  Designed by: Loki Duck

"This is my dadsona Mishka Medvedev c: He's a Russian papa that looks grumpy and tired all the time but is actually really loving and friendly and speaks in broken English.

His name also basically means Teddy Bearson. XD"

Dad: Mayne Kretzky  Designed by: Gokazaru

"My dadsona is an ice hockey coach named Mayne Kretzky. Like Wayne Gretzky, but with my initials."

So far, two of the dads we chose have ice-skating skills. Dads, take note. 

Dad: Eggnips McGee Designed by: Brandykins

"Basically the male me, haha."

Cool, cool, but where can someone get that t-shirt? Asking for a friend.

Shoot-'em-up Sine Mora has been remastered for PC, and for the current generation of consoles, with a gaggle of new modes, a more common aspect ratio, and 4K support. That's the pretty shmup featuring anthropomorphic animals piloting bullet-spewing ships, created by Digital Reality and (Killer is Dead developer) Grasshopper Manufacture.

You can find Sine Mora EX on Steam here, where the page proudly boasts of the update's additional features. Here they are, if you're curious:

• 16:9 Aspect ratio (instead of 16:10 which is still an option)
• Full English Voice Overs (Original Hungarian ones are still available as an option)
• Local co-op for up to 2 players in Story mode
• 3 New versus modes: Race, Tanks, Dodgeball
• New challenge levels
• Improved Rendering
• Native 4k at 60 FPS

Sine Mora EX will release on August 8, and did you know that its soundtrack is provided by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka? The only trailer I can find is of the Switch version, but I don't imagine the PC game will be wildly different:

Preorder bonuses are a common part of the videogame business, but they usually come by way of a game's publisher, and not the platform where it's being sold. But GOG would like you to think about buying games from its digital storefront rather than, you know, elsewhere, and so it's offering free games to people who purchase Absolver, Hello Neighbor, The Pillars of the Earth, and/or Sudden Strike 4 through its storefront.   

Preorder Absolver on GOG and you'll also get Furi; pony up for Hello Neighbor and GOG will throw in Jazzpunk; Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth comes with The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav; and the Sudden Strike 4 preorder bonus is Sudden Strike 1, 2, and 3. The freebies were "hand-picked by developers and GOG to really go great together," a rep said, and come on top of existing preorder bonuses, including purchase-price discounts and in-game items such as the Labyrinth Prospect Mask and Uring Priest gear set in Absolver.   

The offers aren't entirely unique to GOG—Sudden Strike 4 preorders on Steam include the previous trilogy, too—but it is an interesting way for the platform to attract the attention of of gamers who make a habit of shopping elsewhere. And these aren't just throwaway oldies, either. We rated both Furi and Jazzpunk very highly in our reviews, and while Chains of Satinav is getting up there in years (it came out in 2012), it's one of Daedalics better works, and as a point-and-click adventure it doesn't suffer the ravages of age as obviously as other genres tend to. 

All four games are available for preorder now, and the bonus freebies will be granted as soon as the preorder is completed. The offer will be valid for each game's preorder period, and in the case of Absolver and Hello Neighbor, will remain available for two weeks after they come out.

Update: PUBG creative director Brendan Greene has issued a statement on Twitter saying that he has seen the game data related to the stream sniping accusation, and that the ban was in fact justified. He also said that the fact the accusers were streamers did not have a bearing on the decision.

"No-one gets special treatment, and if the data doesn't back up a claim, no ban is handed out. The community team is committed to ensuring everyone, no matter who they are, has a level playing field when in the game."

The full statement is below.

Original story: 

Last week, one Playerunknown's Battleground player was temporarily banned from the game for team-killing a team-killer. Rules are rules, the admins declared, and thus his plea of self-defense fell on deaf ears. But a more recent and dubious ban, in which a player was given a seven-day timeout following accusations of "stream sniping," has prompted the developer Bluehole to acknowledge that the current system of bans and appeals isn't up to the job. 

As related in this Reddit thread, the trouble started when a player by the name of Lotoe came upon, and killed, an enemy named Shroud, a "popular streamer", along with his partner Summit who a few minutes prior had been dealing with a stream sniper—someone who determines an enemy player's location by watching their stream. Because of the timing, the two streamers immediately accused Lotoe of stream sniping too, and his viewers began filing complaints. The banhammer swung quickly after.   

(A video of the kill can be seen in this Twitch clip, but be aware that it's filled with the sort of talk that keeps me away from most online shooters.) 

The ban has not gone over well with the PUBG community, primarily because there's zero evidence that any actual offense took place. And in fact the general consensus is that proving it happened is virtually impossible. "This stream sniping rule is just nonsense. There is no way you can prove anyone is stream sniping unless they give you hard evidence themselves. It's all just word of mouth," a redditor by the name of twoski wrote. 

Another redditor, Kharn16, went further by accusing developer Bluehole of being indifferent to players who aren't well-known personalities—a sentiment shared by many others. "Stream sniping is dishonourable but you simply cannot ban players for something that cannot be proven and something streamers can avoid with delays," he wrote. 

"This happens all the time. The worst case I've seen is when one of the top streamers in this game called cheats on a guy after standing in a field, shooting 10+ times and getting shot in the head from some unknown direction. People in the chat went nuts like this chat did. Eventually they found the guy's profile and linked it. Turns out the guy was some average player with something like 2 wins and 250 losses, 0.4 kill/death ratio. Woops." 

"These streamers have direct contact to the developers. The developers even write in their chats. In a situation like this it's 10,000 vs 1, and with 5 million players, they don't really need any 1 player unless you're one of the top 15 streamers. This should be a concern for everyone, even if the odds of it affecting you are extremely low." 

In the wake of the uproar, lead community manager Sammie Kang, who goes by the evocative handle of "poopieQueen" on Twitter, issued an apology for not previously addressing the shortcomings of the current ban system.

"For team-killing and stream sniping, we require evidence to be submitted as with all reports against players. We do not ban players based on what we see on social media or streaming platforms ourselves. We ask players to submit reports with evidence on our forums which is a temporary measure. We take action when the evidence is sufficient to warrant a ban," she wrote on the PUBG forums. 

"The current rules and ban process are not final. Our community team is doing the best to ban users that do not play fair or ruin the experience of others. However, we do not have a perfect system. So our appeals system was put in place to ensure that there are checks and balances regarding all and any bans, and to allow us to rectify any mistakes that may have been made. Recently, I have realized that this may not be enough." 

Kang didn't get into the nature of those planned improvements, but implied that an automated system is in the works, though it's hard to imagine how that would ever handle a crime as nebulous as stream sniping. "In the future, our team will work with the engineering & platform team to implement tools and systems to effectively address the issues that could ruin anyone's experience in the game," she continued. "We're currently designing the new systems." 

For now, players who feel they've been inappropriately banned can file an appeal, but "it may take some time for us if there is no evidence to prove the banned user's point. We need to make sure by looking into in-game data." I'm no PUBG expert but I can't help wondering that perhaps if that approach were taken to applying bans, rather than rescinding them, the need to address this issue wouldn't be quite so urgent.