If you want to play Escape from Tarkov Offline with friends, it looks like it’s costing you. Developer Battlestate Games on Thursday announced a new special edition of the game called The Unheard Edition for $250, which includes lots of exclusive features and content, including an offline co-op PvE mode.
Many players purchased other editions that gave them special features such as access to the early test server, more gear, and a larger supply. So the existence of the Unheard Edition is nothing new. However, a previous edition titled Edge of Darkness dropped in January and promised that buyers would gain access to all future DLC via a season pass. Therefore, players assumed that the PvE mode would be considered DLC.
Senior Community Manager Daniel Mavlyuberdinov, who goes by “appl3z0r,” explained in the official Discord that the DLC Season Pass does not apply to the new PvE mode or other features in The Unheard Edition. “DLC means additional downloadable content. PvE is a feature and a game mode. Just because you all want it to be a DLC doesn’t mean it is. It is a feature game mode for the new edition of the game,” he wrote.
As for whether the PvE mode will be available to other players, Mavlyuberdinov continued that it will be a “unique feature” for buyers of the Unheard Edition, although the company will keep Edge of Darkness owners updated on new features will hold. The message was also up
PvE mode is a unique feature only available to owners of The Unheard Edition.
We’ll keep you updated on new features exclusively for EOD owners#EscapefromTarkov
– Escape from Tarkov (@tarkov) April 25, 2024
Additionally, Tarkov Players have noted that the Unheard Edition will include unique weapons and more flea market slots. Characters also do not lose their progress and have an increased starting level after a server wipe. Longtime players will remember a time without server wipes, where players who managed to collect the most loot during a run (added to their permanent collection) would destroy newer players. Server deletion will reset everyone to the same level, giving players who pay for the new package a huge advantage.
The news was not well received by the community. Fans now refer to the edition as “Pay to Win”.. Discord members took it upon themselves to copy and paste a note that reads in part: “We have been recommending this game to our friends for 8 years and bringing more and more players into the community. And what was the reaction from the developers? They have blown us away, refusing to comment and only encouraging those who have lost all respect for themselves to continue pouring money into it […] This cannot be tolerated.”
We’ve reached out to Battlestate Games for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
