Big Things are Coming to Escape from Tarkov in 2024

We had a chance to sit down and talk with Escape from Tarkov Director Nikita Buyanov at Dreamhack Hannover and learned what is in store for Tarkov and Battlestate Games.

Next year will be huge for Escape from Tarkov if the content of the upcoming update and the launch of the new Escape from Tarkov Arena spinoff title wasn't already enough an indicator for that.

At Dreamhack Hannover 2023, we had the chance to talk with Battlestate Games Studio Head and Escape from Tarkov Game Director about the future of EFT and BSG as a studio.

The next Tarkov Wipe is coming soon

The first question that lingered on our minds was the next wipe. For the uninitiated, Escape from Tarkov wipes player progression circa every 6 months together with a big update that introduces new gameplay mechanics, maps, weapons, and more.

When asked Nikita confirmed with us that the next wipe is planned for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. This next wipe and update will introduce vaulting, a completely new and reworked armor system as well as the ability to switch which shoulder you're aiming from.

Escape from Tarkov 1.0 Might be Closer Than You Think

We also used this opportunity to ask when we can expect the release of the 1.0 version of Escape from Tarkov while they couldn't give us a concrete timeline Battlestate Games currently plans to release the full game in 2024. According to Nikita, most of the content for the full release has already been completed and they are now hard at work to bring it all together.

He also told us that this full release would be quite different from the current state of the game and that it was very important to them that the 1.0 release feels like an upgrade to the final version of the game rather than just another patch.

Wipes

On that note, we also asked how BSG is going to handle wipes going forward after the release. Nikita told us that accounts would have two different kinds of progression, account-wide for the main story mode and achievements and seasonal progression which will work similarly to the wipes we have now.

Single Player Tarkov

He also confirmed that they're also planning a kind of single-player mode that could also be played in coop but didn't elaborate how exactly that would feed into the multiplayer aspect.

Consoles, Steam, and being Self-published

If you've been around Escape from Tarkov for a long time, you may remember that BSG at one point announced that they would try to get EFT on Steam which is why we asked if there are currently any plans to bring Tarkov to Steam.  To that Nikita said that they're still looking into Steam or platforms such as the Epic Game Store or GoG but also floated the idea of remaining independent for now.

When we asked about a console version and controller support, we were told by Nikita that they would start to look into and outline console ports as early as next year.

Extended Media and Battlestate Games after Tarkov

With the full version of Escape from Tarkov on the horizon it's only natural to wonder what is next for BSG. So we asked Nikita if there were already any plans or ideas floating around for what the team would tackle after EFT. And while wouldn't tell us anything explicit he did reveal that he recently presented a new project to his team that isn't necessarily connected to the Tarkov IP.

We also talked about the extended media surrounding Tarkov, the novels and web series' they've been publishing throughout the years. In talking he confirmed with us that they plan to continue more in the vein of the Chronicles of Ryzhy series but were also in talks with several studios about a potential movie or TV show. But Nikita also told us that many of those projects were currently moving very slowly due to being so busy with EFT and Arena.

We also checked out Escape from Tarkov Arena's first official tournament at Dreamhack Hannover and talked with Nikita about BSG's approach to esports and what is in store for their new competitive shooter.

For more on Escape from Tarkov as well as the latest in esports and gaming stick with us here on ESTNN