Escape from Tarkov has defined the extraction shooter genre for years, but its top billing is in jeopardy. Over the last week, developer Battlestate Games damaged its relationship with its most loyal players. Moreover, other titles like Gray Zone Warfare from Madfinger Games (out today, April 30) are giving outraged players alternatives.
Escape from Tarkov burns goodwill
Battlestate Games’ mess began last week when it announced a brand new $250 edition of Escape from Tarkov. The Unheard Edition initially featured an exclusive PvE mode, priority matchmaking for six months and bonus items that skirt the line of pay-to-win. These bonuses included higher baseline character skills, larger inventory space and less aggressive AI enemies — major advantages for the hardcore survival title.
While the contents (and price tag) of the edition likely would have sparked fan outcry, fans felt especially betrayed by the exclusive PvE mode. The previously top-tier $150 Edge of Darkness (EoD) edition promised buyers it would include all future Escape from Tarkov DLC. While fans argued that the PvE mode counted as DLC and should therefore be available to EoD owners, Battlestate initially argued it was a “new functionality” and thus not DLC.
As a result of this backlash, Battlestate Games went into damage control mode. The developer has walked back a number of promises it initially made for the new Unheard Edition. In its first update, Battlestate Games planned to appease EoD owners with access to the PvE mode for six months and a discount to upgrade to the Unheard Edition. On its most recent walk back, Battlestate now plans to give EoD owners access to PvE for free in waves which will give the developer time to upgrade its server capacity.
“First of all, I would like to say that I am very sorry that fans and the game community in general are experiencing these feelings,” said game director Nikita Buyanov on Reddit. “Unfortunately, I somehow did not foresee the fact of such a reaction and now I have drawn conclusions for my future decisions.”
Despite these walk backs, Battlestate Games hasn’t appeased fans. Instead, the developer took shots at another upcoming challenger, Arena Breakout Infinite. It accused the new title’s developer, Morefun Studios, of plagiarism ahead of its May 8, 2024 launch. While Gray Zone Warfare was not called out directly, it’s clear that Battlestate Games is in a precarious position. Fans are angry and open to alternatives when rival titles are launching.
Gray Zone Warfare launches amid chaos
In the midst of the Escape from Tarkov community’s outrage, another extraction shooter is set to capitalize.
Gray Zone Warfare takes notes from its predecessor’s extraction shooter format, but the title experiments with the genre’s formula. The game bills itself as a PvPvE tactical shooter, borrowing from the factions system in titles like New World. While factions exist in Tarkov, players still fight others from their faction in raids. In contrast, Gray Zone Warfare’ system encourages both competitive and cooperative game play.
Moreover, Gray Zone Warfare distinguishes itself from Tarkov visually. Instead of Tarkov’s Chernobyl-inspired setting, Gray Zone Warfare is set in over 16 square miles of jungle in Laos. Further, Tarkov is beginning to show its age. Madfinger built GZW in Unreal Engine 5, while Tarkov uses Unity.
Can Gray Zone Warfare overtake Escape from Tarkov?
While Gray Zone Warfare didn’t plan to launch when its biggest competitor is in chaos, the title has a prime opportunity to win over disgruntled Escape from Tarkov players.
From April 18 to 24, Madfinger hosted a closed beta for the game with select content creators. Viewers watched over 4 million hours of content on Twitch during the event. This viewership was roughly on par with both PUBG and Escape from Tarkov’s hours watched during the same period. While GZW benefitted from its novelty, there’s clear interest from its intended audience.
Escape from Tarkov is also facing a unique problem compared to other established live service titles. Every six months or so, Battlestate Games wipes players’ progress. This has typically benefitted Tarkov as wipe events give players a natural time to join or reengage with the game.
However, this lack of permanent progress is coming back to bite Battlestate Games. Tarkov’s players are less attached to their accounts compared to titles where gamers keep their progress. As a result, players more likely to consider alternatives.
While Gray Zone Warfare doesn’t look to re-invent the wheel, it is benefitting from Battlestate Games blunders. A few hours after launching today, April 30, 2024, on Steam in Early Access, the title is a top seller on the platform. At the time of writing, GZW has nearly 50,000 concurrent players. Initial reviews are mixed due to performance issues, but fans are clearly looking to GZW as an alternative.
Time will tell if this initial success holds, but Escape from Tarkov’s missteps have given Gray Zone Warfare a golden opportunity to thrive.