Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene knows that player feedback about PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds doesn’t always match up with the data the team sees on the servers, but it’s important to pay attention to what the community talks about. There’s at least one area where he disagrees with the haters, though, and that’s the topic of the red zone.

The red zone is a marked area on the map that is bombed from above. If you’re not in a building when a bomb hits you, you’re dead. If you know how to avoid the red zone or stay within the structures, you’ll find yourself in an area where almost no one can hear what you’re doing. Which is kind of the point.

“And people say there’s no reason to it but it provides audio cover, it really looks cool when you’re fighting in it,” Greene told Eurogamer. ”And really, you shouldn’t be dying to the red zone. If you’re dying to the red zone then, I’m sorry but you’re not a very good player.”

That seems like a harsh statement, especially with so many people disliking the red zone, but it’s not like it’s hard to stay safe from the bombs.

“It’s like, you know there’s a hundred meter safe zone around the edge of it, if you’re in a building there’s a very little chance of you getting hit, it’s there for a specific reason, it looks really cool and it provides tension,” Greene explained. “If you’re trapped in a fight in the Red Zone, it’s exciting! People say that it has no reason, but it does. It’s there for a very specific reason which is providing audio cover and even when it’s a little bit in the distance it provides enough cover to run a little bit, so, there are reasons.”

It looks cool, it keeps people from hearing you and there are many steps you can take to mitigate your risk when near it or inside it. Case closed.

Unless people continue to not like it in huge numbers, however.

“But, that said, if there is an outpouring of hate towards it, we may consider [removing it,]” Greene said.