Escape from Tarkov game director Nikita Buyanov has taken to Reddit again to provide players with more updates after the backlash surrounding the game’s Unheard Edition and the paywalled PvE mode addition.
In the first of two posts over the weekend, Buyanov attempted to redefine the definition of DLC by stating that the new co-op PvE mode coming to the game “is not DLC”.
“DLC in our understanding is the major additions to the game, including various functionality and content that are released after the official release of the game as a themed DLC pack (Scav Life DLC for example, which will add a lot of new mechanics and content for Scav gameplay and leveling),” he said.
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He continued by saying that because of the mode being “entirely on a separate network infrastructure”, it wasn’t possible to launch the mode to all players who purchased the Edge of Darkness (EoD) edition that promised all future DLC for the game. That said, the PvE mode would now be available for free for all EoD owners of Escape From Tarkov.
In addition to the mode being free, Buyanov said that Battlestate Games will be giving players who upgrade from the EoD Edition to the Unheard Edition a 50% discount, bringing the cost down from $100 to $50.
More Changes For Escape From Tarkov
But that wasn’t all for Buyanov on the reaction of the community. He then came back hours later with a follow up post.
“First of all, I would like to say that I am very sorry that fans and the game community in general are experiencing these feelings,” he said. “Unfortunately, I somehow did not foresee the fact of such a reaction and now I have drawn conclusions for my future decisions.”
In addition to him stating that he’s sorry players feel the way they do, as opposed to being sorry for the decisions made, Buyanov clarified a few more points of the changes Battlestate Games is making in light of the response.
He said that access to the new mode for EoD players will be done in “waves”, though he didn’t say how often a new wave will happen. He added that mod support will be added to the mod have “release of the game”.
Being scrapped entirely is the prioritized matchmaking that was set to be a feature of new version. Instead all players will be in “the same spot” when it comes to matchmaking.
As far as the Unheard Edition of Escape from Tarkov itself, Buyanov says it won’t be removed despite calls for it from players.
“[W]e will not remove it, we want to keep the option for those who want to support the game more,” he said. “But we will balance items, perks in this edition, as well as we will provide more rewards for those, who upgraded with the old price.
“Thank you for your time, love and hate, and thank you for your increased attention to the current situation.”
What do you think of the continued drama surrounding Escape from Tarkov, the co-op PvE mode and the Unheard Edition of the game? For more Insider Gaming, find out the details on the upcoming Early Access release of Gray Zone Warfare.
The part I don’t get is how he can say, “DLC to our understanding is major additions to the game”, how is adding a whole new game mode that fundamentally changes how the game is played not seen as a major addition? They’re doing such a poor job of trying to convince people it isn’t DLC when it clearly is.