Escape from Tarkov Responds to Community Backlash

In the wake of widespread community outcry, Escape from Tarkov announced owners of the discontinued Edge of Darkness edition will gain temporary access to the exclusive PvE mode packaged with the controversial The Unheard Edition. Players have been up in arms since the reveal of the title’s special The Unheard Edition, a bundled package with an extravagant $250 price tag. The backlash from the reveal swiftly took over discussions regarding Escape from Tarkov, with players accusing developer Battlestate Games of reneging on its promises.

The Unheard package is perhaps the most controversial topic to hit Escape from Tarkov since the extraction shooter’s closed beta was released back in 2017. Players were particularly incensed when it was revealed The Unheard Edition included exclusive access to a cooperative PvE mode, one of the most highly anticipated features for Escape from Tarkov. The community’s anger only intensified when it was announced that players who purchased the $150 Edge of Darkness edition, which promised access to all current and future DLCs, would not have access to the PvE mode.

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In response to the public outcry, Battlestate Games COO and Escape from Tarkov director Nikita Buyanov shared a post to the official subreddit, announcing plans to grant access to the PvE mode and high-priority matching for six months to EoD owners. While the additional perks are not yet live at the time of writing, Buyanov additionally claimed developers of the hit extraction shooter were already working to implement the new benefits, explaining that his team needed to increase Escape from Tarkov‘s PvE server capacity before it could open the mode to more players.

Players Unhappy with Escape from Tarkov’s The Unheard Edition

Though Buyanov’s post intended to mollify the fanbase, initial reactions to the announcement were still overwhelmingly negative. Outraged Escape from Tarkov fans claimed The Unheard Edition blatantly disregarded one of the promised key benefits of the discontinued Edge of Darkness Edition, which guaranteed access to all upcoming DLC without additional payment. Many more players criticized the changes to the monetization system. Several users believed The Unheard Edition’s additional perks and upgrades placed Standard Edition owners at a blatant disadvantage.

Microtransactions and DLC options in video games have been accepted as a facet of the modern industry. However, that’s not to say that the community won’t take note when a developer pushes forward an exorbitant $250 bundle for a title that has yet to leave its closed beta phase.

Escape from Tarkov

Escape from Tarkov is a player-versus-player first-person shooter in which players are dropped into an area and attempt to collect equipment and escape with their lives.