Escape from Tarkov’s efforts to move on from its early access period and become a full release have not gone smoothly. Steam users lament a variety of concerns with the new 1.0 release, from gripes over the pricing of different versions to complaints that just launching the game is a laborious and frustrating process.
On November 15, hardcore extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov saw two notable events occur. Firstly, it emerged from a beta status, which it was in for over eight years, into the full, official 1.0 release. And secondly, it arrived on Steam. Unfortunately, as the game’s director Nikita Buyanov seems to have anticipated, user reviews on the platform have met the game with scorn, dragging the overall rating into “Mixed” status for its English reviews.
“[It’s] one of the most premium pieces of launcher software I have ever purchased,” reads one of the top “Most Helpful” negative reviews on Steam. “Great hardcore experience, it already starts with trying to launch the game – 10/10” reads a cleverly disguised “positive” review in the same category. That critique doesn’t seem to be an overreaction either, as several other reviews cite an hours-long struggle just to get into the game.
These launch issues follow recent turmoil within the game’s community over the fact that the Steam version would require a separate purchase for those who already owned the game. And that controversy came fresh after developer Battlestate Games faced tough criticism over a controversial $250 version of the game. Like your average game of EFT, it’s messy.
Tarkov’s tough-as-nails gameplay will probably always appeal to a select and discriminating group of shooter aficionados. Still, this poor reception arrives with some unfortunate timing as the extraction shooter genre has seemingly never been more popular; Arc Raiders’ persistent status in the top three most-played games on Steam and the wide appeal of Escape from Duckov speak to a rise in popularity, one in which genre pioneer EFT feels notably left out of the conversation.
