Escape From Tarkov developer offers $250 pay-to-win DLC, outraging entire fan base

Cal Jeffrey

Cal Jeffrey

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What is it? Escape from Tarkov is a first-person survival shooter in the vein of multiplayer games like Arma 3 and Day Z. Players spawn on one side of a map with an extraction point on the other. They must fight against NPCs and other players to escape the map. Players can go it solo or team up, but if they die, they lose all their gear.

On Monday, Battlestate Games released a significant content drop for its live service game Escape from Tarkov. The update includes a new PvE co-op mode and several bonuses for the PvP mode. Battlestate named the update the "Unheard Edition" and priced it at $250. Players who have already bought the Edge of Darkness Edition only have to pay $100 for the upgrade.

Fans are unhappy about the price and the bonuses, calling it a pay-to-win scheme because several PvP bonuses give Unheard Edition buyers a competitive advantage against those who don't buy the new upgrade. These bonuses include more storage space for loot, improved skills after a wipe, and a bonus that prevents NPC scavengers from firing at players with more than six reputation levels with Fence. The latter makes it much easier to get to the extraction point.

Furthermore, Battlestate promised early adopters who pre-ordered the Edge of Darkness Edition while it was still in closed beta that future DLC would be free. Now, they have to pay $100 for what they consider to be paid DLC.

Battlestate Games tried to explain that the Unheard Edition does not count as DLC because it is a new version of the game, but it did not do a very good job of it.

"It ain't DLC, its unique feature of the new edition added [sic]," said Battlestate's Lead Community Manager on Discord. "DLC means additional downloadable content. PvE is a feature and a gamemode. Just because you all want it to become a DLC it wouldn't mean it is one. It's featured game mode for the new edition of the game [sic]."

It may have been better to have a professional PR representative clarify the situation rather than an emotionally charged community manager because the explanation only further inflamed fans. The backlash got so intense on Discord that Battlestate silenced all but three channels on the Escape From Tarkov server.

In response to the stifling of dissent, moderators in the Escape From Tarkov unofficial subreddit temporarily lifted the ban on same-topic posts, noting that they are "just as livid about the situation" as everybody else.

"Let's start this off right - we (the mod team) are just as livid about this situation as you are. We were initially enforcing rule 8 [no reposts]; however, after an internal vote, looking into the new edition, and some discussion, we have all come to the conclusion that it sucks. Complain away; it's P2W and a betrayal of players' trust/support of this game over the years."

Despite the continued blowback, Battlestate doubled down on Monday, reiterating that PvE mode is a feature that Edge of Darkness players are not entitled to. On Tuesday, the developer backpedaled slightly, announcing that it would give Edge of Darkness purchasers access to the PvE mode, but only for six months. After that, it will return to being exclusive to the Unheard Edition.

Of course, none of this addresses the arguably more serious problem of introducing pay-to-win mechanisms into Escape From Tarkov. Battlestate's handling of the problem is not likely to placate the masses, which were 200,000 concurrent at one point. Parody account @BatterStateGame's satirical post below perfectly sums up Battlestate's tone-deaf response to the situation.

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Escape From Tarkov developer offers $250 pay-to-win DLC, outraging entire fan base

 
brucek said:
Even assuming it is a full sequel or expansion -- $250 for a game?!?
Click to expand...

$250 is a trifling amount compared to what some people are willing to spend in these sorts of games. Some people just have very different priorities in how they spend their money, and game companies are all too glad to do some whale hunting.
 
Dreadcthulhu said:
$250 is a trifling amount compared to what some people are willing to spend in these sorts of games. Some people just have very different priorities in how they spend their money, and game companies are all too glad to do some whale hunting.
Click to expand...

I've heard of "micro"-transactions that sell for that much and more to the whales within an established playerbase.

My point is that I'd have thought if you try charging $250 for a new game / new expansion, the end result would be game with a very small population. That's why the mandatory portion of the game is usually priced not to frighten people off, or even free.
 
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I’m a tarkov player and I own the EOD version. It said it would come with all subsequent DLC and it’s clear the new pve mode (which people have been asking for) is content, in the game, which you download and is behind a paywall. It’s DLC and it should be included. The main game is £50 plus fees and the Edge of Darkness edition was another £70 on top of that. It came with a larger stash to store loot and weapons etc, a larger secure pouch to put things in during a raid that you won’t lose if you die, and access to a coop practice mode (standard edition can do practice mode on all maps but its single player only) where your items don’t persist between raids. And all subsequent DLC. This is the version you bought if you wanted to have access to everything Tarkov had to offer other than other microtransactions etc which only got introduced recently.

The cost to “upgrade” to the new version for EOD players is £120 in the UK. The price is absolutely crazy. And they said they will give access to priority queues for six months as compensation errr what now?!, so now if you buy the standard version it takes you longer to get into a game?! So. Anyone wants to play tarkov, it’s £250 unless you are happy waiting longer, having a smaller stash, having to do more grinding to get rep with the vendors, having less stuff to start after each wipe and having a smaller pouch.

They have gone absolutely mad. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are so financially screwed that getting everyone angry so they quit the game means less servers to run. Afterall there’s no revenue stream from EOD owners. They really screwed up their business model.
 
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You people are weak! $250 is nothing compared to what some people will drop for a MUD game. Yep, MUD - nothing graphical about the game, just a text based game.

It was 4 or 5 years back now that there was someone that dropped $25k (that's thousand) on a MUD game I still play from time to time. The item in question helped eliminate a few negative aspects of a small area of the game. $25k. Just for an item in a text based game. Just take a minute to let that sink into your thick skulls.













Enough time?

How about this MUD game also holds pay events 4-5 times a year. One event is held twice and then you have 2-3 other different events. Each pay event provides you with opportunities to acquire in game currency that applies only to those pay events. If you want some new, fancy looking string of text then you need to accumulate a buttload of currency from that even by paying for tickets to the games/events. People will drop thousands of dollars on each event just to get a newer fancy string of text.

I don't get the draw of these pay events in that game, I don't pay for that stuff. But some people go batshit crazy and spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year on it.

In the end, spend your money how you want, but don't be surprised if people think you're foolish for how you decide to spend it.
 
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"Furthermore, Battlestate promised early adopters who pre-ordered the Edge of Darkness Edition while it was still in closed beta that future DLC would be free. Now, they have to pay $100 for what they consider to be paid DLC."
If the game has a long life, it is not unusual for a total of all DLCs to cost over 100 bucks.
But hat is assuming it indeed lasts years with solid supply of new content.
It seems like the developer got greedy, and then immediately after stupid.
Because this is stupid. I am not talking specifically about outrages price but rather advantages.
In our current gaming culture, a lot of people are totally ok with paid content. That is content that does not give a very obvious advantage over other players.
It is stupid, and it will cost them more in a long run.
It almost feels like someone had some real life issues or new expensive girlfriend which
requires much more than the game brought before this DLC.
Shame, the game grew well, getting prettier and attracting plenty of new players.
Nobody wants to play when opponents have longer bigger faster shooting guns.
And after this DLC, I think that is very possible.
Developer probably: hey, buy this $300 DLC, I know I said it would be free. But if you buy it, the next one will be not only free, I will pay you $100!
 
Neatfeatguy said:
You people are weak! $250 is nothing compared to what some people will drop for a MUD game. Yep, MUD - nothing graphical about the game, just a text based game.

It was 4 or 5 years back now that there was someone that dropped $25k (that's thousand) on a MUD game I still play from time to time. The item in question helped eliminate a few negative aspects of a small area of the game. $25k. Just for an item in a text based game. Just take a minute to let that sink into your thick skulls.













Enough time?

How about this MUD game also holds pay events 4-5 times a year. One event is held twice and then you have 2-3 other different events. Each pay event provides you with opportunities to acquire in game currency that applies only to those pay events. If you want some new, fancy looking string of text then you need to accumulate a buttload of currency from that even by paying for tickets to the games/events. People will drop thousands of dollars on each event just to get a newer fancy string of text.

I don't get the draw of these pay events in that game, I don't pay for that stuff. But some people go batshit crazy and spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year on it.

In the end, spend your money how you want, but don't be surprised if people think you're foolish for how you decide to spend it.
Click to expand...
A much shorter example: Vegas makes a killing separating fools from their money.
 
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Dreadcthulhu said:
$250 is a trifling amount compared to what some people are willing to spend in these sorts of games. Some people just have very different priorities in how they spend their money, and game companies are all too glad to do some whale hunting.
Click to expand...
Well put, I agree completely.
 
I'm glad I only tested a "demo" of this game and decided to write it off.

If they were that desperate for money, there had to have been a better way... though, I don't think this community is going to pull off punishing the dev for such a scummy move.....
 
If the dev is willing to charge and customers are willing to pay...

I'll take "what is a fundamental principal of capitalism" for $200 Alex
 
There is nothing special about games today (except GTA 6) that warrants this kinda price tag. You got 1,000 other options 3x cheaper....
 
Did they ever fix the cheating problems in this game? Or is the PvE DLC to give non-hackers something to do instead of getting farmed by the hackers?
 
As long as the people support the DLC culture which is so rampant now, we will see more of this in the near future.

Gone are the days when game companies sold a complete game on its own as a whole final purchase. Nowadays they charge you full price for the "base" game, and continue charging a third to half of the full price for each so-called "DLC".

Even worse, they started releasing games that have not been ironed out, incomplete and full of bugs, because they will release fixes as patches. The quality of games are going down.

No other choice that if people want to get to complete experience, then have to wait for the Gold or Game of the Year edition, and that too when on sale almost a year down the road.

Vote with your money. Say no to DLCs.
 
I bought standard edition and upgraded 3 years later to the version with some perks. Bigger stash. More starting equipment. 3x3 secure pouch. And all the dlcs. And coop practice mode. It was the top tier pack and had been on sale for 6 years so it was the peak of pay to win, or so we thought. It now seems that the pay to win element could be anything at any time with no limit and a price tag to match. So it’s broken any trust in the game effectively. Bit of a shame.
 
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