Until 2024, Escape from Tarkov was a game that sparked new interest with each wipe among MeinMMO editor Dariusz, but in 2024 the developers managed to completely extinguish this interest with a blazing flame.
Escape from Tarkov received the so-called “The Unheard Edition” on April 25, 2024. This special version of the game was supposed to cost a proud 250 euros and grant players access to a new, permanent PvE co-op mode. In this mode, there are no wipes, which means players do not regularly lose all their progress.
A large part of the community was extremely angry with the developer Battlestate Games because of the new edition. The price was way too high, and the owners of the “Edge of Darkness” edition (EoD) were sure that they should have also received access to the mode – after all, they once paid 155 euros to receive all future DLCs.
Ultimately, the players forced Battlestate Games to respond to their fierce criticism, and consequently, the PvE mode should also be accessible for EoD owners and available for purchase separately for 20 €. We reported on this in 2024:
Not in the mood for Tarkov because I am resentful
I am a stubborn customer and tend to not forgive companies easily when something frustrates me immensely. For example, I avoid a manufacturer of gaming hardware because an expensive pro controller was disappointing in quality. And Battlestate Games also let me down massively with “The Unheard Edition.” I am resentful.
In the past 10 months, I have not played Escape from Tarkov even once. I have completely lost interest in the game – even though there are still very few games that provide a real alternative. Although Battlestate Games retraced regarding the PvE mode, it was already too late. Tarkov has lost me as a player.
New edition only overflowed the cup
However, the Unheard Edition with the outrageous price was certainly not the only reason for me to stop playing Tarkov. My interest had already been steadily declining in the months before. The reason for this were well-known issues such as cheaters and poor performance.
The most annoying problem is referred to as desync. In a desync, the transmitted information is inconsistent, i.e., not synchronized. This leads to players perceiving a situation in a game differently. For example, a player I shoot at might take a step to the side and evade my bullets without me seeing it. On my screen, the information about the sideways step is delayed due to the desync and I miss my shot.
To be fair, most shooters have problems, and many games don’t run perfectly. Especially cheaters can be found in almost every shooter. I could also list countless issues in games like Counter-Strike 2 or Black Ops 6. However, Tarkov was one of those games that had a small hype with every new wipe and thus attracted players to the servers despite various issues – but this time, the hype just didn’t catch on.
Is the community gradually losing interest?
Both professionally – as an editor dealing with shooters – and privately as a shooter player, I regularly look into the community of Escape from Tarkov. On Reddit, at least in my personal feeling, important topics are no longer being discussed as emotionally and vigorously.
The biggest Reddit posts about Tarkov over the last year are almost all regarding the Unheard Edition. Occasionally, there are still players with quirky clips that attract some comments expressing negativity about the state of the game, but apart from “the game is bad”, I perceive no emotion in the subreddit. In my experience, it is a bad sign when the community stops being interested in the game.
The dwindling interest is also evident on Twitch: In 2024, only 29,000 viewers watched streams of Escape from Tarkov – which is 21% fewer viewers than in 2023 (via Sullygnome). In February 2025, there were only 21,000 viewers, although the last wipe had only been in December 2024. There are still approximately 5 months until the next wipe, which is expected to be in August again.
Whether players are truly losing interest in Escape from Tarkov, however, cannot be definitively determined. We do not have concrete player numbers as is the case with games on Steam. Therefore, feel free to share in the comments whether you are still actively playing Tarkov and if not, when or why you lost interest. In the meantime, here are 7 games on Steam that you should play if you like Escape from Tarkov.
