Escape from Tarkov has had a ‘Prestige’ system since 2024, allowing players to level up, hit the requirements, and submit to the system, resetting everything and having another run through the game. With each new Prestige level, players unlock exclusive items, retain their stats, and get special customization options for their character and Hideout.
In a recent social media post, the head of the studio at Battlestate Games, Nikita Buyanov, revealed how few people worldwide have reached the highest possible level in Escape from Tarkov.
The Highest Echelons of Escape from Tarkov
In a post on social media, Nikita Buyanov revealed that just over 40,000 players have secured at least one Prestige level in Escape from Tarkov. To get to that point, users need to have hit level 55, unlocked Kappa, maxed out a couple of skills, and completed a specific questline.
That’s a pretty daunting task for the average player, and it might come as a surprise to learn how many people have hit those requirements multiple times since December 2024, when Prestige levels were introduced. It’s important to stress that Prestige levels persist through wipes (read: game resets).
Nikita confirmed that 24,502 players (as of his post) have hit Prestige 1. From there, the growth drops dramatically, as only 8,946 had hit Prestige 2. The numbers decline rapidly, all the way down to the sixth and final Prestige level. While Battlestate Games has a desire to implement ten Prestige levels, six is the maximum at present.
At the highest level, which would require players to have hit all the requirements six times since December 2024, there are just 593 players.
By comparison, Battlestate revealed at the start of March that more than 33,000 players had completed Escape from Tarkov’s base story. This was introduced in November 2025 when the game hit 1.0, which was widely regarded as the most important moment in the title’s ten-year history.
Are you surprised that only 593 players have hit the max level in Escape from Tarkov? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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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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