Why Escape From Tarkov Gamers Are Furious Over A New $250 Edition

Escape From Tarkov players are nothing if but incredibly dedicated to their game and its developers, but that sentiment might be changing with some recent actions. Back in 2022, Battlestate Games elected to stop selling the premium game package for EFT, which gave some great perks, including access to all subsequent DLC, in exchange for $150. However, in a slap to the face of all those who purchased the former premium game package, Battlestate Games has released a $250 edition of Escape from Tarkov, which the community is not too keen about, due to its exclusive features.

Back when the Edge of Darkness (EoD) version of Escape from Tarkov was around, it included some in-game perks regarding traders, inventory size, and a few other minor things. Besides the in-game perks, it included “Free access to Escape from Tarkov: Arena” as well as a pretty significant perk with “Free access to all subsequent DLCs (Season pass).” This is all good, but the latter perk somewhat depends on your interpretation of what a DLC is for a game. If you think a DLC is a new game mode behind a paywall, then you would be in disagreement with Battlestate Games.


With the latest Escape from Tarkov update over 24 hours ago as of writing, Battlestate Games introduced “The Unheard Edition,” a $250 EFT package that includes “Access to PvE co-op mode with persistent progression” meaning “Progression will not be reset with wipes.” For those unaware, Escape from Tarkov was formerly a PvP-only game that wiped all progress with nearly every major update, effectively leveling the playing field and allowing for quite a bit of replayability. This new game package not only negates the wipes but also introduces a PvE mode, which many players consider a DLC and are rightfully infuriated about due to the terms of the EoD edition of the game.


From individual players to prominent streamers in the EFT community, a cacophony of voices has been calling out Battlestate Games for the recent changes. Given this, the initial response from Battlestate Games was that the “PvE mode is a unique feature which is available only for the owners of The Unheard Edition,” with promises of more features for EoD players. However, this response did little to quell the growing discontent. Just seven hours ago, Battlestate Games published a list of additional perks for the $150 EoD Tarkov players, including “Access to offline PVE for EOD owners for 6 months.”


Ultimately, people likely won't stand for these extra perks, and they will demand offline PvE mode for EoD players as well. However, it is unclear whether or not Battlestate Games will give in to the pressure, and this could turn into a long-drawn-out ordeal. We will have to see what happens, so stay tuned to HotHardware for updates.

Update - 4/27/2024, 11am EST

It would appear that the pressure of the community finally got to Battlestate Games, as lead developer Nikita has posted an update on the matter to the Escape from Tarkov subreddit. At first glance, Nikitia is sticking to his guns that "PvE gamemode this is not DLC," and that DLC is only "major additions to the game, including various functionality and content that are released after the official release of the game as a themed DLC pack." Despite this, Battlestate Games "observe[d] your dissatisfaction and have decided that the functionality of the PvE mode will be available for free to all owners of the EoD version at the release of the game." However, because this gamemode is on totally separate infrastructure, this will roll out "when the server infrastructure will be improved to the required capacity." 

Update on current situation
byu/trainfender inEscapefromTarkov

Beyond this change, there were some other gestures of goodwill which you can check out in the full post. Just as Nikita is not fully backing down, though, neither is the community with anger still stewing in the comments of this update. One of the Tarkov subreddit moderators, Zavodskoy, compiled some of the complaints and issues that not only the community but the moderators had. This includes clarifying what constitutes a DLC, why is BSG not doing peer-to-peer PvE servers over hosting their own, and how is gifting an extra copy of the game to people who already purchased "The Unheard Edition" a benefit if reselling it goes against the game's ToS? 


It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the community fighting back against Battlestate Games, so stay tuned to HotHardware for any more updates to the developing situation.