Escape from Tarkov director says the launch week's wobbles were 'actual stress testing not only of our servers but also our mind and nerves'

escape from tarkov hardcore wipe — (Image credit: Battlestate Games)

Escape From Tarkov released on Steam on November 15, taking the excellent extraction shooter out of beta after a mere eight years, and almost immediately had a bit of a wobble. Players found themselves unable to log in, with demand being such that developer Battlestate Games acknowledged severe server woes, and then came the inevitable review bombing from those who couldn't play. Welcome to Steam, comrade!

"What a week," wrote director and Battlestate COO Nikita Buyanov on X. "This week was actual stress testing not only of our servers but also our mind and nerves for sure. But seeing you enjoy the game makes us feel better."

Escape From Tarkov screenshot — (Image credit: Battlestate Games)

"We plan to use this couple of months to prioritize and get more and more fixes and improvements into the game," says Buyanov. "Also there will be winter in Tarkov, new storyline quests, new events. Sometime after there will be the introduction of seasonal characters with the whole new seasons system."

Tarkov traditionally has weather events, with the landscape typically covered in snow from late November until spring: it makes everything prettier, and crunches underfoot so it's even easier for other players to hear and headshot you.

Buyanov signs off by announcing the "traditional New Year TarkovTV in December" with "all of the additional info", and has put up two time-limited codes for some in-game goodies: "SCAVYBOI" and, for a free drill, "ITSADRILL".

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

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