Vehicle bug shocks players during PUBG Global Championship

Olivia Richman Published 18/11/2019

A vehicle bug almost cost a team a spot in the PUBG Global Championship grand finals.

North American team Rumblers were in their first phase of rotation grabbing loot around Hacienda, when Alex “CherryPoppins” Penner crashed into a building. Instead of going inside to loot the location, CherryPoppins was catapaulted into the air along with the vehicle.

“Oh no, not like this!” one of the commentators exclaimed.

He ended up dying due to fall damage. Their Argentinian opponents, WClick, was quick to react, eliminating the fallen Rumblers member.

Without CherryPoppins, Rumblers squad member Agron “Waldoe” Jashari was trapped in a nervewracking 1v3. Their third teammate, Lari-Pekka “LosHD” Hopiavori, rushed in to assist Waldoe, who eventually traded back a kill before being eliminated. Only LosHD was left for the remainder of the map.

“Imagine experiencing a massive bug that cost you a fight in a tournament that’s worth over three million dollars,” CherryPoppins said.

Since CherryPoppins death had taken place in the first game within the first 10 minutes, some viewers and participants wondered if the lobby could have just been remade. But despite CherryPoppins not dying due to any fault of his own, the admins decided to not make that ruling and instead had the tournament continue as is.

PUBG Global Championship’s $3 million prize pool

The PUBG Global Championship is PlayerUnknown Battleground’s largest tournament of the year. There’s over $3 million on the line, as 32 teams from all over the world fight to be crowned the best PUBG squad in the world.

Only 16 teams will be sent to the Grand Finals on November 23. Despite the unfortunate bug during the semifinals Day 2 match, The Rumblers will be one of those 16 teams competing in the Grand Finals.

Despite such intense competition and so much money on the line, the PUBG Global Championship couldn’t escape from the battle royale’s bugs. This has been an ongoing issue PUBG has faced throughout its short life as an esport.

At the PUBG Invitational last year, OpTic Gaming’s Ian “Bahawaka” Crowe was caught taking advantage of a bug that made it possible to see through walls. While he claimed it was an accident, other pro players said it’d be quite difficult to take advantage of that bug accidentally. OpTic was out $12,000.

PUBG Global Championship admin’s call questioned by PUBG community

This isn’t the first time that a ref call during a PUBG tournament has been questioned by viewers. While competing for a spot in the PUBG Global Championship, teams facing off in the MET Asia Series: PUBG Classic tournament were met with a power outage during the 12th match.

Players were unable to reconnect to the game once power was restored, which resulted in an uncoverable match. The administrators decided to throw out the results of that game, even though there were just 11 players left at the time of the outage.

In response, multiple teams walked out of the event. This caused PUBG Corp. to come in and amend the referee’s call. The remaining teams were given “compensation points,” which didn’t seem to be enough for many of the affected teams.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile