The server maintenance of Garena's Free Fire took place yesterday, May 7. It lasted for the whopping nine hours. A period of time in which the mobile game could lose some players to PUBG mobile.
This long downtime of the Garena Free Fire servers was used to increase the server capacity and upgrade the servers for the millions of players. Garena usually takes care of server maintenance to fix bugs and change patches, but the company has assured fans that this is not a patch update and will not bring new features to Free Fire.
Players were not able to access the game during the scheduled nine-hour maintenance period. Logging in was possible again immediately after the server changes were all set and done.
"As the number of players increases, we recognized the need to update and expand our server to provide a better and smoother gaming experience for everyone," said 111Dots Studio.
The only question is: Will the players all return? PUBG, one of the fiercest competitors, can only profit from this update. Nine hours is quite a long time and if you want to fight mobile during this time, you might get lost on PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. There's one thing the competitor does better: updates mean no server downtime. PUBG Mobile also released a massive update on the same day, without server downtime.
Patch Note for PUBG Mobile
The patch adds some interesting new features to the Battle Royale game, including an update to the Miramar map, new modes, a weapon, the royal pass, and more.
Mad Miramar
- Several changes have been made to the classic Miramar map.
- New areas include an Oasis in the north and the Urban Ruins in the northwest. More houses and roads have been added as well.
- A racetrack has also been added on the map.
- New Miramar exclusive vehicle: Golden Mirado. Only one will spawn on the entire map.
- Vending machines have been added which will give players supplies such as energy drinks.
- Sandstorms have been added to Miramar.
New Evo Ground modesBluehole mode
- This mode is playable only on the Erangel map.
- Two zones will be present in this mode: an outer zone and an inner zone.
- The inner zone tells players where the next zone will be and is present until the outer zone shrinks completely.
- Teammates can be revived in four seconds.
- All supplies spawn with a 50 percent increase.
Jungle Adventure mode
- Some players will be randomly put into this mode when playing a classic match on Sanhok.
- It features several additions to the Sanhok map such as the totem, jungle food, and a hot air balloon.
- Totem: Can be found on the map and used for receiving a “blessing” or an item.
- Jungle food: Fruits and other foods can be found in the wilderness of Sanhok. These can be consumed to grant mysterious effects.
- Hot air balloon: These can be controlled to survey the battlefield.
New weapon: P90
- Playable only in the arena modes.
- Fires 9mm rounds and has a magazine capacity of 50 shots.
- Can equip all SMG Muzzle attachments, one to 6x scopes, and the laser sight.
Cheer Park
- A new social area where up to 20 players can enter.
- It allows players to interact with others and make new friends.
- Players can engage in a variety of activities such as the one-vs-one duel and the Hunt Game.
Royale Pass Season 13: Toy Playground
- This “toy-themed” royale pass will be available from May 13.
- Players can choose between the Ice Ranger or Fire Ranger at Rank 50.
- Ultra Defender set available at Rank 100.
- New RP mission reminders page UI.
Other changes
- Canted sight: It’s a new attachment that can be equipped to guns alongside another scope. Players can quickly switch between the two scopes.
- New results screen UI: Classic mode results will now offer more detailed results and statistics about the match.
- Win94 comes with a default 2.7x scope only available on the Miramar map.
More information about gaming and esports can be found on EarlyGame.
