Summary
In the wake of widespread community outcry,Escape from Tarkovannounced 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 regardingEscape from Tarkov, with players accusing developer Battlestate Games of reneging on its promises.
The Unheard package is perhaps the most controversial topic to hitEscape from Tarkovsince 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 mosthighly anticipated features forEscape 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.
In response to the public outcry, Battlestate Games COO andEscape from Tarkovdirector 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 ofthe hit extraction shooterwere already working to implement the new benefits, explaining that his team needed to increaseEscape 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.OutragedEscape from Tarkovfansclaimed 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 gameshave 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
WHERE TO PLAY
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore and realistic online first-person action RPG/Simulator with MMO features and a story-driven walkthrough. With each passing day the situation in the Norvinsk region grows more and more complicated. Incessant warfare in Tarkov has sparked massive panic; the local population has fled the city, but those who stayed are looking to improve their fortunes at the expense of others. Having accepted the new reality, savage Tarkov locals - “Scavs” flocked into well-armed gangs and started the redivision of the city. Nowadays, Tarkov is separated by unseen borders, controlled by different groups. Gain-greedy gunmen would go to any length to have their way, including the murder of civilians and direct confrontation with the two private military companies. The players will have to experience living in the skin of one of the mercenaries who survived the initial stage of the Tarkov conflict. After choosing one of the sides – USEC or BEAR – the player’s character starts to make his way out of the city. Tarkov is sealed off by UN and Russian military, supply chains are cut, communication with operational command is lost, and in these conditions everyone has to make his own choices of what to do and how to get out of the chaos-ridden metropolis.
