PUBG’s New Action Update Adds Kicks, Water Combat and Faster Item Interactions

PUBG: Battlegrounds is expanding the range of actions available to players with a substantial gameplay update designed to make close-quarters encounters, aquatic movement and item management more flexible.

The aptly named New Action Update forms part of Update 43.1, which introduces the ability to kick opponents and environmental objects, use limited weapons while floating, carry and throw loot without storing it, and activate certain items directly from the ground. These mechanics may appear relatively small individually, but they target situations in which PUBG’s traditional control scheme offered players very few practical choices.

Krafton says the objective is to reduce unnecessary inventory management while introducing additional tactical possibilities without undermining the battle royale’s core gunplay. Update 43.1 is scheduled to reach PC on September 10, followed by consoles on September 17.

Kicking Opens a New Front in Close-Quarters Combat

The most immediately noticeable addition is a dedicated kick action, available across all game modes. Players can perform both standing and jumping kicks while unarmed, with right-click assigned as the default input on PC and LT used on consoles. The action can also be moved to a different input through the key-binding menu.

Compared with an ordinary punch, kicks inflict more damage and generate substantially stronger knockback. This allows players to push an opponent away, interrupt an ongoing action or potentially force someone out of a favourable position.

Krafton has not published a complete set of damage values or detailed recovery timings, so it is too early to determine whether kicking will become a reliable combat option or remain a situational last resort. The requirement to be unarmed should prevent it from replacing firearms in conventional engagements, but the knockback could produce some memorable close-range confrontations.

A kick near a rooftop, steep slope or elevated window may be more valuable than the damage itself. It could also give an unarmed player a brief opportunity to interrupt an enemy, create distance and reach a weapon. Success will depend heavily on positioning and timing, particularly because attempting the action at the wrong moment leaves the player exposed.

The mechanic consequently adds a physical element to encounters that were previously dominated by punches or desperate weapon switching. It is unlikely to transform PUBG into a melee-focused battle royale, but it creates another option when conventional gunplay temporarily breaks down.

Doors, Windows and Vending Machines Can Feel the Impact

Kicking is not limited to other players. The action can interact with a selection of environmental objects, giving it a role in movement, looting and building entry.

Windows, wooden doors, wooden fences, jars and tires can all be destroyed with a kick, although Krafton warns that some objects of the same type may remain unaffected depending on their size or construction. Certain indestructible doors can also be opened more quickly by kicking them, although exceptions will apply.

This could make aggressive building entry slightly faster and more theatrical. Players will be able to crash through selected obstacles without firing a weapon or switching to another melee action, potentially preserving ammunition in the early game.

However, convenience does not necessarily mean discretion. A kicked door or broken window will still communicate that someone is nearby, making the action potentially dangerous when stealth matters more than speed. It therefore creates another tactical choice rather than an automatic replacement for normal interaction.

Vending machines offer an especially unusual application. Kicking one can release items more quickly than using it normally, but the machine will be damaged and temporarily unavailable afterward. A player can prioritize immediate access to supplies at the cost of denying further use to themselves, their squad or anyone arriving later.

That trade-off fits PUBG’s systemic approach to level design. A simple movement becomes meaningful because it affects both the immediate situation and the resources remaining on the map.

Entering the Water Is No Longer Complete Surrender

Water has historically been one of PUBG’s most dangerous environments. Swimming restricts movement, removes most combat options and can turn a player into an easy target for anyone watching from dry land.

Update 43.1 does not eliminate those disadvantages, but it gives swimmers a limited way to respond. Players can now use sidearms and throwables while remaining on the water’s surface.

Handguns support both hip-fire and aiming down sights, although shoulder firing is unavailable and bullet spread is higher than it would be on land. Throwables are restricted to overhand throws. Players can move slowly while aiming, but normal movement or diving will automatically stow the equipped weapon. It will be drawn again when the player returns to the surface.

These restrictions are important. Krafton explicitly states that the goal is not to make water combat equally effective to fighting on land. Players in the water will remain vulnerable, but they will no longer be entirely defenceless when discovered during a river crossing or forced away from the coast by the Blue Zone.

Swimming and diving speeds have also been increased by 25 percent, with adjustments made for different movement directions. A new surface-swimming animation and a water-droplet screen effect when emerging from below have been added alongside the mechanical changes.

The wider result is that rivers and coastlines may become more viable rotation routes. Water will still represent a calculated risk, particularly against enemies holding rifles on elevated terrain, but players now have enough mobility and defensive capability to consider it as a legitimate alternative.

Boats Receive More Survivability

Aquatic vehicles are receiving complementary changes intended to make water-based rotations less punishing. Boat durability has been increased, while firearm damage modifiers have been standardized across the category.

All boats will now receive 50 percent damage from firearms, replacing the differing modifiers previously applied to individual vessels. Players can also use an All-in-One Repair Kit on a boat while remaining on the water’s surface, although repairs cannot be performed underwater.

Combined with faster swimming and limited surface combat, these changes establish a more coherent aquatic gameplay system. A destroyed boat no longer leaves every surviving passenger without meaningful choices. They may be able to return fire, throw utility, swim more quickly or attempt to repair the vessel if the situation permits.

None of those options guarantees survival, but that is not the intention. The update is designed to create decisions in situations that previously had only one likely outcome.

Loot Can Be Carried Without Using Inventory Space

Another important addition allows players to pick up, transport and throw certain ground items without placing them inside their inventory. The action is performed with H on PC or LB and X on console.

Carried items do not consume inventory capacity, although only one type can be held at a time. Compatible categories include weapon attachments, healing and boost supplies, helmets, vests, backpacks, throwables and ammunition.

Stackable objects such as ammunition and bandages can be carried using their default ground-spawn quantity. The available movement options and the appearance of the carried object vary according to its size.

Players can walk, run and jump with certain objects, but restrictive actions remain in place. Crouching, going prone, using another item and interacting with a teammate are unavailable while carrying loot. Drawing a weapon, entering a vehicle, swimming, vaulting, climbing, being knocked or dying will cause the object to be dropped.

This system could be particularly useful when a player finds valuable equipment but has no remaining backpack capacity. Instead of reorganizing the entire inventory or abandoning the object, they can physically transport it to a safer location.

It also introduces a more direct way to exchange supplies. Ammunition, healing items or equipment can be picked up and thrown toward a teammate, with throwing distance determined by the object’s size. Thrown items collide with terrain and other objects but do not inflict damage when they strike another player.

The inability to injure enemies with a flying helmet may disappoint anyone imagining improvised projectile kills, but it prevents the feature from becoming an unpredictable substitute for actual weapons. Its primary purpose is logistical rather than offensive.

Ground Items Can Be Used Immediately

Update 43.1 also reduces the number of inventory actions required when using supplies. Players can activate certain objects directly from the ground by holding H on PC or LB and X on console.

Compatible objects include healing and boost items, the Folded Shield, Emergency Pickup, Mortar and C4. Existing restrictions remain active, meaning an object cannot be deployed or consumed if the normal usage conditions are not satisfied. The interaction prompt will appear in red when an immediate action is unavailable.

Using an item from the ground takes the same amount of time as using it from the inventory, so the system does not create faster healing animations. Its advantage is the removal of inventory friction. A player with a full backpack can consume a necessary boost or use a medical item without first discarding another possession.

Bandages and other consecutively usable supplies can also be consumed directly from a ground stack. If the action is interrupted, the remaining items will be dropped at the player’s feet.

This may prove especially valuable during hurried looting sessions, contested building fights and the final stages of a match. Players will spend less time dragging icons or reorganizing backpack capacity and more time evaluating the surrounding threat.

Small Actions Could Produce Meaningful PUBG Moments

The New Action Update is not a fundamental reinvention of PUBG. Its additions preserve the game’s deliberate pacing and weapon-focused combat while addressing rigid interactions that have remained largely unchanged for years.

The kick offers new close-range mind games, water combat provides a minimal response to ambushes, and direct item handling reduces the dependence on inventory menus. Their greatest impact may come from how these mechanics interact with unpredictable terrain, squad coordination and player improvisation.

PUBG has always generated its strongest stories when a simple system produces an unexpected result. A desperate river defence, a last-second medical item thrown to a teammate or an opponent kicked away from a doorway could become exactly the kind of unscripted moment that defines the Battlegrounds.

Update 43.1 is scheduled to deploy on PC following maintenance on September 10, with the console rollout planned for September 17. As with all announced patch content, Krafton notes that features may be modified in response to technical issues and community feedback.