In a recent survey, the developers at Battlestate Games questioned users on their matchmaking observations and expectations. Shortly after, players were taking to social media to reveal that getting into a raid in Escape from Tarkov was happening faster than ever, effectively addressing one of the most critical problems in the Tarkov ecosystem.
Historically, large events, wipes, and busier periods have left players loading into a raid for up to ten minutes – or more. It has been an issue for Escape from Tarkov players for years, but it seems Battlestate has finally nipped it in the bud after making several changes.
Is Escape from Tarkov Loading Faster Now?
In a post on social media, the indomitable Nikita Buyanov, the head of the studio at Battlestate Games, wrote:
maybe you noticed – we are doing some changes to matching, reducing matching times. There will be more changes to that to reduce it more
He went on to explain the four steps taken by Battlestate Games to reduce loading times more than ever before, effectively:
1. pre-launching game rooms
2. optimizing server load process
3. tweaking matching parameters
4. testing some experimental stuff
In the comments under his post, fans of the tough-as-nails extraction shooter were thankful, with many long-time creators and streamers coming out of the woodwork to stress how much better everything felt. Users were reporting sub-two-minute loading times into raids, even on the game’s biggest maps.
Of course, the fastest way to load into any raid on Escape from Tarkov is to play PvE, but that’s not really a solution for the majority of the game’s player base. That’s one of the leading advantages of the spin-off mode, and every raid you enter loads in around 30 seconds, which is a huge improvement.
It should be stressed that PvE can be played offline, in a way. You don’t need to connect to Battlestate’s servers to play PvE raids.
Are we ever going to see parity between PvE and PvP in terms of raid loading times? The improvements in PvP have been judged at around 30 – 50%, but will Battlestate ever push that further?
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you’ve noticed improved matchmaking times in Escape from Tarkov.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that GTA 6 has appeared in the PlayStation backend
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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