PUBG season 5: Throwing frying pans, Miramar updates, and more changes to look out for

PUBG season 5 is nearly here and you ought to look out for flying frying pans once it goes live. The most highlight-reel worthy change to PUBG in update 5.1, which is headed to PC on October 23 and consoles on October 29, is the ability to throw all melee weapons: you could even get a one-hit distance kill with your frying pan if your aim is right and your opponent's close enough.

Other big changes coming include throwing helpful items to allies (turns out there's a lot of throwing in this patch), significant alterations to the Miramar map, the sudden appearance of vending machines, and of course a bunch of new stuff to earn from the latest Survivor Pass. If a teammate uses a radio message to request healing or ammo, a button prompt will appear over their head to automatically lob over whatever they wanted, straight into their inventory. You can throw items up to 15 meters, and if they're moving too fast or their inventories are full the item will land near their feet.

Miramar, which is the Mexican desert-themed map, has been refreshed with a new race track region. It features some ramps and loops to do sick stunts on and an overall reduction to small items and junk that could make it tougher to get around while looting. There's also now a single Gold Mirado parked at the garage in Hacienda del Patron, which should become a hotly contested vehicle each match. Both Miramar and Camp Jackal also have new Vending Machines, which can distribute either Painkillers or Energy Drinks (sometimes several at once).

Lastly, the season 5 Survivor Pass is serving Mad Max post-apocalyptic realness. Titled Badlands, it comes with all kinds of studded black leather with shoulder pads, vests, and combat boots. There are also a few over-the-top fashion items like the Badland Royalty Tuxedo, with its oversized floral print in an eye-catching gold.

Find more to play in our list of the best games of 2019.