The big battle royale boom of the last few years certainly owes part of its success not only by being a great spectator sport, but because of how fun the competitive genre is to play with friends. Though you likely enjoy not being helped or being hindered by your friends or random squad mates from time to time, squading up in a battle royale is a lot of fun. Some recent changes mean teaming up in PUBG Mobile ranked modes is quite a bit harder, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still play with your buddies. Here’s what we know.
The PUBG Mobile 1.7 update was hyped up not for its typical crossover content and new modes, but for the long-awaited return of Unranked mode. In the past, it hadn’t been possible for players to run and gun around maps like Erangel without risking their ranking. For new players, this was a major anxiety inducer. For everyone else, it meant not having a playground to test new strategies, guns, and scout out vantage points without risking their place on the ladder.
Though the update has certainly offered a place for everyone to chill out and play the game without any real repercussions for their performance, some say the limitations imposed to keep Ranked free of top-tier players boosting inexperienced players have ruined things for the rest of them. A new Q&A posted by the developers, however, has attempted to defuse that by explaining how (and when) players can still team up with their friends to climb the ladder. Here’s how (and when) to team up with friends in PUBG Mobile Ranked modes.
How Do I Play With Friends in PUBG Mobile Ranked? – Tiers Explained
According to the post — which still hasn’t managed to console people — only those with a major tier disparity should ever run into issues teaming up for ranked play. Here’s the breakdown of who can (and who cannot) squad up to climb the ladder in PUBG Mobile Ranked lobbies:
- Players from Bronze tier to Platinum tier can team up with each other.
- Players who are at Diamond tier or higher can only team up with players within 2 major tiers of themselves. Ace and above will be considered one rank.
As for the tier range requirements for each team up attempt, you and your potential squadmates need to be within these tier ranges to be able to take on the ranked ladder together:
- Bronze–Platinum
- Platinum–Diamond
- Diamond–Crown
- Crown–Conqueror
What this means is that players with relatively low in-game experience (or those who just struggle to rank above Platinum) should face no issues attempting to team up for some PUBG Mobile ranked action. As soon as you go beyond Platinum, though, you’ll break away from any newcomers and will only be able to squad up with other top-tier players to continue your climb. It’s not a great situation if you’re inviting friends to try the game and want to help them rank up, but there’s nothing stopping you from going into unranked matches to teach them the skills they need to catch up to your bracket.
There’s every chance the net could widen as more and more players voice their concerns about the recent PUBG Mobile Ranked limitations, but the wording of the Q&A makes it sound as if it was published merely to double down on the decisions and simply explain to players why they were made in the first place. Simply put: if you’re in Diamond, don’t expect to be carrying any new recruits up to your level.
Disclaimer: Fanbyte is owned by Tencent, which also runs Tencent Games, developer and publisher of PUBG Mobile. Tencent also subsidizes much of Fanbyte’s PUBG Mobile coverage by covering freelancer budget costs. Those covering PUBG Mobile for the site have no contact with Tencent, however, and are given complete creative control to write whatever they wish.
