The online shooter Escape from Tarkov was supposed to have entered the open beta phase long ago. However, the game is progressing very slowly. Where does the shooter stand in April 2019?
What is Escape from Tarkov? Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore online shooter that focuses on realism and simulation.
- The story revolves around the fictional Russian city of Tarkov, which is sealed off due to a conflict.
- The private army BEAR, mercenaries from USEC, and the Scavs are fighting for supremacy.
- You fight through several zones of the city where you need to complete tasks.
- It is necessary to survive and search for better equipment.
- The battles are tactical and deadly. Even grazing shots can lead to death.
- You may upgrade your weapons with many mods.
- You improve the hero through a skill system.
- Trading plays an important role.
- You build a base as a retreat and storage.
- Realism is the priority. The trajectory of bullets is calculated physically correctly.
A slow development
What has happened with the online shooter? Escape from Tarkov is currently in closed beta. And it has been since the summer of 2017. An open beta was supposed to have started in early 2018, which has still not happened.
The developers are working hard on the shooter and continually release updates that bring small and large changes as well as innovations. These include:
- New quests
- More items and weapons
- New maps
- New world bosses
- A German translation
What is the problem? The developers are progressing slower than planned. This is partly due to the network code. The game has been struggling with performance issues and lags for a long time. While updates have improved this, the situation is still not optimal.
The game often hangs unexpectedly, which can end badly, as every second in Escape from Tarkov decides between life and death. According to players, this stuttering is one of the main reasons why the game is not progressing and currently lacks success.
Subtracting710 writes on Reddit: “Finally remove the stuttering! It’s the only thing destroying the game and has been for a very long time!”
Furthermore, cheaters are making life difficult for players. This issue has not yet been resolved by the developers either. There are some exploits that players take advantage of, and the team needs to fix these problems immediately, which takes time away from other tasks.
How is the open beta going? Already in March 2018, the team stated that the beta will only start when the most significant problems, including network performance, are resolved.
However, since this problem still persists, the open beta will take longer. There is currently no date for it. Perhaps it will start this summer, but that is not certain.
There is still much to do
What is the team currently working on? The developers from Battlestate Games are currently preparing version 0.12. This is expected to bring a number of innovations:
- The compass
- Voice chat
- A new Scav world boss
- Improved animations
- Alcohol
- A switch to the new version of the Unity engine
- Options to customize the character
- The introduction of a public test server
- Performance and network optimizations
What are the biggest issues currently? In addition to optimizing performance and the issue of cheaters, several elements are still missing:
- The base is not yet integrated
- Maps are still missing
- A number of skills are still missing
- Bugs need to be fixed
So, how is it with Escape from Tarkov? There is still no release in sight for Escape from Tarkov. With some luck, the long-awaited open beta might start this summer. How long it will take until the release version is published is uncertain.
Development is progressing slowly but steadily. The team at Battlestate Games is taking the time they need to fix the problems and gradually incorporate more features.
What do the fans think? The Escape from Tarkov community understands the long development time, even though many wish it would go faster.
TheKappaOverlord states on Reddit: “No one wants a half-finished game that has more bugs than a high school coding project.”
Anyone who wants to play can join the closed beta. However, one must expect issues. Nevertheless, many fans are already having fun with the online shooter.
But it will likely take a while before Escape from Tarkov reaches a release state.
