Our most substantial patch yet introduces ranked matchmaking, fairer starts with Lag for Break, the long‑requested Push Out rule for 9-Ball, online stability improvements, and a major visual fix that’s been on our hit list since launch.

“Quick Game” will now evolve into our new Ranked Game experience.

Ranked Game introduces:

• Global Leaderboards for each online game mode

• Separate rankings for all three difficulties

• When selecting “Any” as your game type, you’ll also see an overall ranking board of your performance across all ranked matches at all difficulties. 

Whether you’re grinding 8-Ball, mastering 9-Ball, or mixing it up across modes and difficulties, you’ll now have a clear way to measure your progress against the global player base.

Our goal here is to ramp up the competitive layer of Pure Pool Pro, give you more reasons to keep coming back, and make every rack feel that bit more meaningful.
As always, we recommend joining our community on Discord[discord.gg] to organise match-ups!

In relevant multiplayer modes, the break is now decided by the Lag, bringing Pure Pool Pro closer to real-world play.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, in pro pool, the lag is used to decide who breaks. Both players hit a cue ball from behind the headstring up-table, aiming to get as close as possible to the top rail and back without touching a pocket. The player whose ball finishes closest to the rail wins the lag - and with it, the right to choose who breaks.

Our implementation works as follows:

• Both players take their lag attempts

• You’ll then be shown your attempt side-by-side with your opponent’s (in ghost ball form if playing online).

• The closest ball to the head rail wins, and that player can decide to take the break themselves or pass it to their opponent.

• Should both players foul (or, in the unlikely event of lagging in the exact spot), a re-lag will take place.

This should make the opening of each match feel fairer, add a more skill-based/tactical element, and make things more authentic to how things work on real tables.

Since launch, we’ve been working to the ball “shadow pop” - distracting little jumps in lighting and shadow as balls came to rest. Pure Pool Pro uses a much more advanced and demanding reflections system compared to its predecessor, and this visual issue has been a tough nut for us to crack!

With Patch 3, we’ve made notable improvements.

• Shadow “pop” and reflection instability on balls have been dramatically reduced

• We’ve also reintroduced the glossy and vivid look of the balls, which was unintentionally dialled back/desaturated during earlier attempts to fix the issue

The result should be cleaner, more stable reflections with that satisfying, polished finish many of you loved - without the distracting artefacts.

PRE-PATCH 3 VISUALS Community noted that previous shadow pop fix attempts had reduced the glossiness for a ‘matte’ look.

PATCH 3 VISUALS - ARRIVING 21st MAYEnhanced reflections and richer, warmer colour restoring that ‘glossy’ look - with more stable performance. 

We’ll continue to monitor feedback here, but we feel this represents a major step toward the visual standard we’ve been chasing.

Alongside the ball shadow and gloss improvements, Patch 3 will deliver smoother overall frame pacing and increased frame rate stability across both console and PC.

While the core goal of these changes was visual fidelity, the underlying optimisations have:

• Reduced minor hitches and stutters related to ball reflections and lighting, most notably at the break

• Improved consistency of performance during busy table states

The result should be a more fluid, reliable experience that better matches the precision and responsiveness Pure Pool Pro is built around - whether you’re playing on a high-end PC or from the comfort of your home console.

In 9-Ball, we’ve implemented proper Push Out functionality.

After a legal break in 9-Ball, the incoming player can now choose to play a push out - making contact with the cue ball without the usual requirement to hit the lowest-numbered ball first or to drive a ball to a cushion.

Key points for those unfamiliar:

• Push Outs are only available immediately after a legal break

• After a push out, your opponent can choose to take on the shot from the new position or pass the shot back to you

This adds a deeper tactical layer to 9-Ball, especially in high-pressure frames where controlling the table and leaving awkward layouts can be just as important as potting!

• General online stability improvements: 

• “Freeplay” will now remember your difficulty preference upon launching the game 

• “Clarence Clearance” has been fixed for those who were struggling to pop the crest

• “Accumulator” rule tweak - this mode will now permit sequential potting

• Steam Controller API now ensures correct icons are used for your chosen controller

• Steam Controller API now permits re-mapping of gamepad controls via the Steam overlay

• We’ve tweaked the “Match Preferences” flow to make “Preferences” clearer

Patch 3 arrives next week as a result of your continued detailed feedback - on ranked systems, rulesets, QoL, and visuals. Every detailed review, Reddit post, and Discord message genuinely helps us decide what to prioritise next.

We’re thrilled to get these changes into your hands and to keep pushing Pure Pool Pro forward.
If you enjoy next week’s patch and want to help us continue to support the game and keep building the community, please consider leaving/or updating a Steam review.

We’ll see you at the table.

- The Pure Pool Pro Team 🎱

With today’s update, we’ve introduced Controller Vibration on PC and full DualSense Haptic Feedback on PS5. We hope this makes Pure Pool Pro feel that little bit more tactile, satisfying, and immersive.

This update is live now on PC and PlayStation 5.

On PC, players using supported game controllers - including the DualSense - will now experience new force feedback vibration effects during gameplay and in menus.

• Vibration when striking the cue ball

• Vibration feedback while navigating UI menus

Cue-to-cue ball vibration will vary in intensity and duration depending on the power of your shot.

The goal here is to make each shot feel a little more physical and responsive in your hands.

Please note: this is a PS5-exclusive feature. PC players who use the DualSense Controller will only experience the standard “PC - Controller Vibration Support” described above.

On PlayStation 5, we’ve implemented full DualSense haptics, which includes the use of the controller speaker for additional sensory feedback. 

• Enhanced cue-to-cue ball contact feedback

• Enhanced Money Shot heartbeat effects

• UI navigation haptics

• Additional immersive sound effects played through the DualSense speaker

On PS5, cue strike feedback also varies in intensity and duration depending on the on-shot power, with the addition of some dynamic SFX from the DualSense’s built-in speaker.

This should make shot impacts feel that bit more expressive and immersive, especially during those high-pressure moments!

If you’d rather keep things vibration-free, that’s totally fine! You can switch these features off at any time:

• PC / Steam → via your controller or Steam input settings

• PS5 → via your system's DualSense settings (you can adjust the controller speaker volume to your liking here, too).

Be sure to update the game before your next session to make sure you’re getting the best possible experience. We hope Vibration/Haptics add a satisfying layer to every break, pot, and pressure shot.

We’re now continuing our work on Patch 3 and hope to share concrete details of what this will include soon.

We’ll see you at the table!

The Pure Pool Pro Team