Battlestate Games gives in to player criticism, but maintains PVE mode is not DLC
Last Thursday (April 25) we told you that Battlestate Games, responsible for Escape From Tarkov, made a change to the game’s editions that players did not like in the least: it removed Edge of Darkness and introduced The Unheard. The latter is more expensive and includes more benefits such as the persistent progression PVE game mode, immune to wipes.
The community did not take this change too well and very harsh words were used to criticize it such as betrayal, scam and pay-to-win. It has been a very intense weekend for the developers, who have shared several statements with possible solutions to try to calm things down. Nikita Buyanov, director of the video game, finally took to Reddit to give in and provide a real solution:
Let me clarify the situation in a little more detail regarding those who have EoD and access to co-op along with other issues. First of all, PvE mode is not DLC. In our opinion, DLC are great additions to the game, such as various features and content that are published after the official release (Scav Life for example, which adds many mechanics and content).
Although Battlestate Games has given in to the community’s demands, they continue to point out that the PVE mode is not a DLC. That is to say: they are not acknowledging a mistake, but merely giving in. If it’s not DLC, it shouldn’t be included in Edge of Darkness. Buyanov goes on to say that this mode uses their servers (even though we are playing alone) and that they do not have the resources to release it right now for all players who have the EoD.
We have seen your discontent and decided that the PvE mode functionality will be available for free to all EoD version owners at the launch of the game, when the server infrastructure is upgraded to the required capacity.
Now you have the opportunity to try this mode by purchasing the Unheard edition of the game or upgrading to this version. We also decided to offer a 50% discount when upgrading to the Unheard version from the EoD version. […] Additionally, so that any player of any version of EFT can have the opportunity to try out the PvE mode, we want to add the ability to purchase a separate early access to this mode.
Beyond the debate about whether Battlestate Games has apologized or not, the facts indicate that the community has achieved what it wanted… although it will not be overnight because the developers must prepare the game’s infrastructure for this change of plans. It remains to be seen if this move will have a significant medium-long term impact on player numbers.
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