As you might know, Escape from Tarkov is one of the most soul-crushing games on the market. It’s also one of the most rewarding, provided luck is in your favor when you decide to play it. It’s the pioneering extraction shooter that popularized the genre, and for several years, it has been known as one of the most challenging titles ever made.
Recently, we caught up with Nikita Buyanov, the head of the studio at Battlestate Games, the developer behind Escape from Tarkov. As our conversation unravelled, we learned about the team’s goal when it comes to evoking emotion in players, and as it turns out, it’s not about encouraging fun.
You Don’t Play It For a Good Time
If you’ve never heard of Escape from Tarkov, you might be missing out. As the premier extraction shooter, Escape from Tarkov challenges players to load into a borderline milsim environment, accepting that a single bullet can destroy their entire session and cause them to lose everything.
But for as off-putting as that sounds, it’s a hugely satisfying game when things go right. If you go on a winning streak, you’ll be elated, and every raid that you launch in Escape from Tarkov has the potential to yield massive rewards.
It’s gambling, in a way. That’s why extraction games are so successful, and it all started with Escape from Tarkov.
Talking to Nikita Buyanov on the most recent episode of Access Granted, we learned how the team views Escape from Tarkov from an emotional perspective:
People really want to play this kind of game, they really want to play something intellectual, hard, punishing, unforgiving… Something that will actually shake their emotions, not the game for the enjoyment.
Tarkov is made for satisfaction, not for fun. Not for enjoyment.
To have a chance to get the satisfaction or to frustrate. It is what it is. It’s polarizing. You get everything or you get nothing.
It’s an honesty that is rarely seen in the industry. This is a developer acknowledging that their game can be challenging to the point of ‘not being fun’, but that’s entirely the point. It’s why Escape from Tarkov has spent so long at the top of the extraction shooter table. It knows what it is, and it delivers so perfectly on what might seem like a bizarre gameplay loop to some.
If you want to check out the full interview with Nikita, you can do so on the Insider Gaming app, available now on Android and iOS. It’s available exclusively for Insider Gaming Premium subscribers.
Have you ever played Escape from Tarkov? If you did, did you have fun? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Fallout Shelter could be getting a reality show adaptation
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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