Escape from Tarkov 1.0 Launch Q&A

Saturday isn’t usually a game launch day, but it’s the day developer Battlestate Games chose to release version 1.0 of their hugely popular game, Escape from Tarkov. Tomorrow, the game will officially leave early access and be available for the first time on Steam, Valve’s main global PC gaming platform.

We first covered the game over nine years ago, via an interview conducted at Gamescom 2016. The game then followed an unusual development pattern: Battlestate launched it in a limited Closed Beta, which became available on July 28, 2017, granting access to all pre-order customers and canceling the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) so players could freely discuss the game on the Internet.

Since then, the studio has slowly but surely expanded and improved the game, which gained many players and became the de facto progenitor of a new shooter subgenre: extraction shooters, in which players enter a zone, scavenge it for loot, and fight against AI and player-controlled enemies in a dangerous attempt to extract those valuable resources intact.

This type of game is so popular today that its mechanics have even spread to other genres, as we see in extraction RPGs like Project Pantheon (now known as Gods, Death & Reapers), Mistfall Hunter, Legacy: Steel & Sorcery, and Innsmouth Mysteries, to name a few.

However, Escape from Tarkov remains compelling with its hardcore, realistic and uncompromising extraction military first-person shooter experience. With only a few hours remaining separating us from the long-awaited 1.0 release, here’s our exclusive chat with Game Director Nikita Buyanov, where we discuss the road to launch, what’s inside (and what’s not), the studio’s thoughts on the burgeoning genre, and what’s next for Escape from Tarkov.

It’s been over 8 years since you first released Escape from Tarkov for players to pre-order. How would you describe this long journey with your community?

It’s not just a long journey; it’s become a part of our lives—me and everyone in the studio. We grew up ourselves, and with us, a whole generation of players grew up. This has been a very interesting, exciting and challenging journey.

Did you know it would take a long time for the game to reach version 1.0, or were you hoping for an earlier launch?

That’s a very good question. Of course we plan to release it sooner. But making a game, especially one that spans nearly a decade, is a very complex process. We face various obstacles in the form of various subsystems; some things we rewrote from scratch, other things we did for the first time, things no one had done before us. I think we would have released Tarkov sooner if we could predict the future and know what we were getting into. We know what we are doing, but sometimes we don’t know how to do it.

Escape from Tarkov could be said to be the ancestor of extraction shooters. How does it feel to see it gain such popularity, and what do you think of the genre’s latest success, Embark’s ARC Raiders?

We are aware of our importance: we managed to create not just a game, but a whole subgenre – extraction shooters. And when we see games that find their audience, like ARC Raiders, which you mentioned, we’re really happy about that. After all, the more good games, the better. Unfortunately, not everyone views us the same way and sees us as competitors; everyone is trying to declare themselves “Tarkov killers” and try to “knock Tarkov off his pedestal.” We never had the goal of climbing to that pedestal. We just make games. A game that we ourselves enjoy, and due to its uniqueness, is especially suited to hardcore players. Just that.

Will the content of the 1.0 release be as important as previous major updates (for example, Reserve or Streets)?

Release 1.0 is of course a very large scale update. It contains a large amount of new content. The story itself is a big part – players will finally get the chance to escape Tarkov. If I’m not mistaken, the preparation, development and integration of the release content took more than 2 years. So yeah – it’s very large scale.

Will there be a heat map or death cam feature in version 1.0?

No, these features will not be in the release version, but we still plan to implement them in the future.

What is the roadmap for expansion or content updates after version 1.0?

The first DLC players can expect upon release is “Scav Life.” Players will dive into the story of Scavs and see it from a different perspective. They will have their own little Hideout, as well as opportunities for advancement. In fact, we have a very broad planning horizon – there will be new locations and big events. Tarkov has not been fully explored and still holds many secrets.

Where do you think the game stands in terms of anti-cheat measures? Do you want to make further improvements?

The released version brings many changes aimed directly at fighting cheaters. We have done a lot of work in this area and sincerely hope that everything will be fine. However, we certainly don’t plan to stop here and will continue to improve our anti-cheat mechanisms. We have a very large department at the studio that deals exclusively with this issue.

What improvements will be made to server stability and matchmaking?

I must emphasize that server stability is not 100% within our control. However, the aspects we are responsible for, including matchmaking, have undergone many changes and we expect significant improvements.

Will there be further improvements in Quality of Life (QoL) for usability and user interface?

Yes, this is also an important point that concerns us. We will continue to improve Quality of Life (QoL) and User Interface (UI), both during release and after.

How did the narrative/story mode develop? Is there anything you can share about that?

The story consists of a series of story quests. Clear storyline. This is not a narrative mode in the traditional sense. Answering your question, I can only say that players will finally have the opportunity to thoroughly understand what happened to the city and escape from Tarkov.

Are there any plans to improve AI behavior, especially for Scavs and bosses?

Of course, the Black Division itself is a significant addition. But the AI ​​and the game as a whole have undergone many changes.

Escape from Tarkov does not currently support controllers; however, a large number of PC players routinely use this control system in other games. Do you plan to add it in the future? Also, have you thought about a console port?

Yes, we are considering the possibility of porting the game to consoles. I think when we start working on it, we will implement full controller support. This is a very serious and interesting game design challenge – to create comfortable controls while taking into account all of Tarkov’s unique mechanics.

What else does the future hold for Battlestate Games once this decade-long project is complete?

We have very big plans. We plan to expand and do more – to continue developing and deepening Tarkov, as well as expanding the universe. You will all see it soon.

Thank you for your time.

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