The in-game audio of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is being prepared to receive a massive upgrade that will make the combat experience much more realistic.
Vivox, a leading third-party communications service provider, has agreed to integrate its proprietary 3D positional audio technology in the popular online shooter. The goal is to “increase immersion and enable tactical cooperation” for players, who will interact and hear as if they are right next to each other.
“Even after a hundred game integrations, we’re always excited to see a game utilize our capabilities to enhance gameplay and community engagement for players,” Vivox CEO Rob Seaver said in a press release (via WCCFTech). “Bluehole has done a fantastic job and has shown how much core pieces of technology – like 3D voice comms – can change player experiences.”
According to creator Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene, the game was always being developed to offer one of the most immersive and complete battle royale experiences ever. The quality of audio holds great value in this regard. Bluehole was already aware of the capabilities of Vivox and decided to bring it for the ride in order to save the development team crucial “weeks of effort” in achieving the same goal.
At this point is seems that Vivox is only dealing with the in-game communications aspect of the game. This might not cover the game-audio itself, which has often been reported by players to be suffering from unbalanced levels.
PUBG has sold more than 10 million copies so far and most recently hit 1 million concurrent players on Steam. It is currently targeting a full launch by the end of the year, around which it is slated to arrive for the Xbox One as well. Expect sales and popularity levels rise further once that happens.
