This past weekend saw Escape from Tarkov start a row with its biggest supporters by paywalling a PvE mode, forcing new buyers to cough up $250 to buy an Unheard Edition and access the mode or original Edge of Darkness edition buyers to pay an extra $100 for an upgrade — despite that prior edition promising access to all DLCs. Tarkov studio Battlestate Games further decided to throw gasoline on the fire by claiming that PvE isn’t actually DLC, then later agreed to give previous buyers only six months of offline PvE mode access.
The situation managed to turn both better and worse, as Battlestate studio head and COO Nikita Buyanov posted another update to Reddit this weekend with a fresh concession for Edge of Darkness buyers that will grant full access to the PvE mode, but only after the game has fully launched.
According to Buyanov, the number of players who have the EoD edition are too numerous for PvE servers to handle, as they’re located “on a separate network infrastructure because, essentially, you play on [the studio’s] servers, only in closed mode” and Battlestate right now doesn’t have the resources to support access. This means that PvE access will have to wait until Tarkov’s full launch in order for the devs to shore up the servers.
However, Buyanov also says that those who do buy the Unheard Edition upgrade — which is now discounted by 50% — will be paying for the opportunity to “test” the PvE mode. He also confirms plans to sell early access to PvE as a separate purchase for everyone; pricing for this access was not given.
As a further souring point to the announcement, Buyanov’s post opens up with a defensive stance about the whole matter as opposed to a contrite one, stating his firm belief that PvE is not DLC. “DLC in our understanding is the 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,” he writes.
Yesterday, Buyanov posted another update about the matter, in which he confirmed that Edge of Darkness owners will be allowed access to PvE “in waves,” again blaming server infrastructure for the requirement, along with the promise of mod support for PvE and an adjustment to the perk items offered in the game’s special editions.
If replies to Buyanov’s announcements are any indicator, this news is still not going over well and Battlestate may have burned too many bridges. Multiple replies still argue the point that PvE constitutes DLC despite the studio’s understood definition of the term, others call out the fact that access to PvE servers can’t handle everyone before launch but can handle those who will buy in, and many others are expressing skepticism for the latest updates, or are otherwise incensed by the perceived arrogance and tone deafness of the latest announcements.
