There might be a compromise in the Tarkov drama.
After days of community backlash, the developers of Escape From Tarkov have finally offered to give the new PvE mode to owners of the Edge of Darkness edition that included a season pass for all future DLC. However, they won’t get access until Tarkov hits 1.0.
Earlier in the week the new Unheard Edition was revealed and was criticized due to offering bonuses that many thought were pay-to-win. However, the much bigger issue was the launch of a player versus environment mode that allows players to play only against AI with no other real players in the lobby. This mode was only made available to those who purchased the new $250 edition, despite anyone who purchased the old Edge of Darkness edition being promised access to all future DLC for free.
A statement made yesterday promised that owners of the EoD edition would be able to try the new mode for free, but would then need to purchase the new $250 edition to unlock it permanently. However, following further outrage that decision seems to have been changed.
Posting on Reddit, game director Nikita Buyanov announced that all owners of the Edge of Darkness edition will get access to the PvE mode, but only when Tarkov leaves beta and launches into its 1.0 state. There is currently no word on exactly when this will happen, but the team has previously said they were targeting this year for a full launch, and that a lot of the things they are currently working on will be added at launch.
“We observe 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 when the server infrastructure will be improved to the required capacity,” said Buyanov on Reddit.
He also explained that as the PvE mode still requires you to connect to one of their online servers, they do not currently have the infrastructure to roll it out to all EoD owners, who make up a significant part of the player base.
If Edge of Darkness owners want to play the PvE mode now, they can upgrade to the new Unheard Edition at a 50% discount, which should make the upgrade $50 instead of the initial $100. Anyone who has already upgraded at full price will be given a key for the Left Behind Edition, which could be used for a new account.
It was also announced that the team plans to offer a microtransaction for any Tarkov owner to unlock the PvE mode, meaning those with the standard edition would be able to buy access without shelling out hundreds for the Unheard Edition. If an Edge of Darkness edition owner wishes to do this before launch, instead of upgrading to the Unheard Edition, they will get a 70% discount on the game mode.
While this option to buy the mode separately is no doubt a good thing, it does make it even more clear that the new mode has always been DLC. However, Buyanov still claimed in the Reddit post that the new game mode is not DLC, explaining that the free content EoD owners will get is planned to launch after Tarkov hits 1.0.
“PvE gamemode this is not DLC,” said Buyanov. “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 (Scav Life DLC for example, which will add a lot of new mechanics and content for Scav gameplay and leveling).”
Considering the backlash and questionable response so far, this seems like a much more reasonable peace offering for the fans who were rightly annoyed. However, the damage may already have been done, with many fans saying they will not be coming back to Tarkov anytime soon.
