Battlestate Games has come under fire from thousands of players over The Unheard Edition of their hit game, Escape From Tarkov. Escape From Tarkov is a massively popular extraction shooter where players compete against AI and other players to complete missions, find loot, and extract from the playing field alive. This game has dominated viewership on Twitch and YouTube for years, with no other game in the genre having quite the same level of success at capturing their core audience.
RELATED: Games Workshop CFO Sells Off Her Stock Amid Warhammer 40K Female Custodes Controversy
Unfortunately for them, the developers at Russian-based Battlestate Games decided on Wednesday night to unveil their latest edition of this game, complete with the hefty price tag of $250. This did not go over as well as I’m sure they hoped it would. A great multitude of players lashed out at Escape From Tarkov’s Twitter/X account, accusing the developers at Battlestate Games of price gouging and greedy business practices.
To make matters worse, this latest bundle, which is known as The Unheard Edition, seemed to retroactively remove some of the prior bundle’s benefits. The Edge Of Darkness Edition, which had been marketed as a limited time bundle, included the ability to play all future DLC’s, or downloadable content. This edition also included such benefits as a larger stash and more resources to start the game with, giving players an edge over those who chose to purchase cheaper versions of Escape From Tarkov.
RELATED: Diversity Buster ‘deidetected.com’ Lanches As Games Curator Kabrutus Speaks Out on DEI in Gaming
Battlestate Games has now been accused of defrauding players who spent a whopping $150 on The Edge Of Darkness, as The Unheard Edition features a brand new co-op mode that for the first time can be played offline with no PvP, as well as avoiding the seasonal wipe that resets every player’s progress several times a year.
As if things couldn’t get worse, the trailer for The Unheard Edition has been massively downvoted on YouTube, with hundreds of players venting their frustration for Battlestate Games in the comments. Their Discord server is in even worse disarray, as players have resorted to spamming messages in order to make their displeasure known.
RELATED: Former Epic Games Executive Says Nintendo Blocked Metroid’s Samus Aran from Appearing in Fortnite
Battlestate Games has not handled this criticism well, as they decided to lash out at competing shooter Arena Breakout Infinite on Twitter/X for trying to capitalize on the situation. This quickly backfired, with streamer Dr Lupo roasting Escape From Tarkov for it’s infamously bad reputation of allowing cheaters and hackers to thrive in the game.
Mega streamer Asmongold also shared his thoughts in a video discussing The Unheard Edition, in which he compared the game to Star Citizen, a game that is heavily criticized for it’s predatory monetary practices. As of yet, Battlestate Games has yet to clarify what they are planning to do for players who already purchased The Edge Of Darkness and feel robbed by their exclusion in the upcoming offline mode.
What do you think about the state of Escape From Tarkov? Let us know down in the comments.
NEXT: Jack Webb Offended By Stellar Blade’s Sexy Eve, Laments Lack Of Scantily Clad Males
(laughs in SPT-AKI)