Escape from Tarkov can be wishlisted on Steam, and soon, it’ll be available to buy on the popular PC platform. One question that’s being asked by the hundreds of thousands of extraction shooter fans out there is whether you need to buy Escape from Tarkov again on Steam if you’ve already bought it from escapefromtarkov.com.
It’s a fair question, as Escape from Tarkov can be a very expensive game. In this snapshot guide, I’ll help you understand if you need to buy Escape from Tarkov again on Steam if you’ve already bought it years ago directly from Battlestate Games.
If I Own Escape from Tarkov, Do I Need to Pay Again?
Yes, you will need to buy Escape from Tarkov on Steam if you want to play the game via the platform. This is a mandatory step that cannot be avoided, even if you previously purchased The Unheard Edition or the Edge of Darkness Edition from Battlestate Games via escapefromtarkov.com.
However, there’s a major caveat.
You can purchase any edition of Escape from Tarkov on Steam, even the cheapest one, and still play with your higher edition, provided your accounts are linked.
Let me explain how this works.
- To play Escape from Tarkov on Steam, you must purchase one copy of the game.
- You will need to link a Battlestate Games account to your Steam account to ensure your progress is retained.
- When you link an existing Battlestate Games account with an active copy of the game to a Steam profile, you’ll be recognized as having a copy of Escape from Tarkov elsewhere.
- If you have previously bought a higher edition of Escape from Tarkov, the higher edition will be automatically used when launching the game through Steam.
- For instance, if you have previously bought The Unheard Edition, you can purchase the Standard Edition on Steam, and when you load the game via Steam, it will load your Unheard Edition profile.
Some players have expressed concerns about ‘buying Tarkov again’, but it makes a lot of sense when it comes to interoperability. It’s not ideal, but at least Battlestate Games has tried to meet players in the middle on price.
Let me know if you plan on buying Escape from Tarkov on Steam over on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Escape from Tarkov coverage, check out the release date of the 1.0 version of the game
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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