The makers of Escape from Tarkov, which originally launched in 2017, announced a stunning $250 special edition of the extraction shooter on Thursday. It didn’t go well.
Where should I start? The Unheard Edition has a ton of additional content, including features that many fans call pure pay-to-win because they give a buyer advantages over someone who hasn’t spent more than $250.
Then there are the buyers of other special editions for a game that launched seven years ago, wondering what happened to the promise that they would receive all future DLC by paying a premium price.
Finally, there’s a new PvE co-op mode exclusively for those who pay the Unheard Edition freight, and players are angry that such a core feature is only available to those with enough money.
And honestly, Battlestate Games’ response to all of this leaves a lot to be desired. But let’s start with the pay-to-win accusations made in several posts on the Escape From Tarkov subreddit, whose moderators also appear to be openly rebelling.
Is Escape From Tarkov now pay-to-win?
Buyers of the Unheard Edition will receive additional PMC bags and slots at the flea market, meaning they’ll be stuck with better gear (or have to carry it into battle entirely). There’s also “increased fence reputation,” which in Escape from Tarkov means that enemy NPCs are less aggressive at certain ranges than they would be against players with lower reputation.
“This is blatant, you have a huge lead over everyone else,” one Redditor said in a post that was upvoted thousands of times.
Regarding the flea market slots, another pointed out: “We let them be taken away to stop them [real money transactions] and scammer benefits, now we have to pay to get them back.”
Next comes PvE mode, where player progress is not erased by a server reset. The developers of Escape from Tarkov have been periodically resetting their servers to reshape the playing field. The whales who opt for $250 will be able to make progress in offline events, maintain it, and have a huge advantage the next time Escape From Tarkov resets, in addition to a completely different progression mode .
There’s also the fact that many view PvE mode as the kind of additional feature they’d get if they bought the Edge of Darkness special edition offered by Battlestate Games, which was available in the early days of access. Even if this isn’t the case, Battlestate conveniently removed the Edge of Darkness edition from digital marketplaces back in December, effectively ending this entitlement program.
The developers’ reaction to Escape From Tarkov is…unsatisfactory
And that fits into Battlestate’s response to the riot. On
PvE mode is a unique feature only available to owners of The Unheard Edition
We’ll keep you updated on new features exclusively for EOD owners#EscapefromTarkov
— Battlestate Games (@bstategames) April 25, 2024
The makers of competitor Arena Breakout: Infinite, published by Tencent, noticed the discontent and tried to use it to bolster support for their game, eliciting this snippy response.
Experience a beautiful 20-minute adventure in the blatant plagiarism game. In and out pic.twitter.com/DZe3A0I8Z4
— Battlestate Games (@bstategames) April 25, 2024
Meanwhile, on Escape From Tarkov’s Discord, a community manager responded succinctly to a player (according to Forbes): “Just because y’all want it to be a DLC doesn’t mean it is.” On the Discord Server has been quiet since then.
There you have it, stirring up unnecessary unrest in a community loyal to a game that put one of the first feet in an emerging genre, the extraction shooter. Much of this controversy is similar to Overkill Software’s clumsy response to Payday 2 fans, who are also upset about that game’s microtransaction scheme.
Whether buyers of Edge of Darkness, whose edition was completely withdrawn from sale at the end of 2023, will end up receiving additional DLC or not is something to keep an eye on.