The extraction shooter “Escape from Tarkov” has gained a lot of sympathy over the years. The shooter from Russia was considered a hard, cool indie variant to western mainstream shooters like Battlefield or Call of Duty. This is changing in 2024: After a mistake, it seems they just can’t manage to create a better atmosphere.
This is the terrible situation: Escape from Tarkov has lost a lot of goodwill with its behavior regarding a special edition:
- A new “Ultimate” edition costs $250 and would offer a PvE mode with permanent progression that many players have been waiting for
- But all players wanted this new mode. Players felt that they were being forced to pay a lot of money
- On top of that, Tarkov had previously sold a $150 version that promised access to all further DLCs — but the developers have now retracted that promise and changed what the $150 version actually includes
The zigzag course at Tarkov is making the situation worse
This was the reaction: People were really angry at the developers Battlestate Games and voiced their discontent very loudly.
The developers then tried to talk their way out, but it got worse, and ultimately they had to backtrack: Even the people who paid $150 for all modes would gain access to the new mode, albeit not immediately but in waves.
Tarkov messes up the backtrack
This is currently the new problem: The developers announced that they would give buyers of the $150 version, which had become worse due to the new developments, a “compensation.”
But this is proving to be a minefield, with the developers stepping on every single landmine:
- Originally, they offered players to upgrade to the new $250 version for “only” $100 – which did not go well at all and had to be withdrawn
- Now they have offered them to upgrade for an additional $50.
- However, those who already paid $100 for upgrading do not receive their $50 back in cash for overpayment, but rather as a voucher that can be used for other products from Battlestate Games.
This is currently just causing shaking heads (via reddit).
Somehow things are going wrong and backwards at Battle State Games right now.
The problem for Escape from Tarkov is that they have just soured their relationship with many of their players, while other games have just come out trying to steal their players away. A new shooter on Steam is creating a lot of buzz: Gray Zone Warfare already has 66,000 players on Steam on its first day, but what do the first reviews look like?
