Escape from Tarkovplayers are once again making it clear that not enough is being done to prevent and punish cheaters.Escape from Tarkovlaunch in 2017 pioneered a new subgenre among online multiplayer shooters. Yet surging popularity can prove incredibly challenging for growing studios likeEscape from Tarkov’s Battlestate Games. Cheating is one of the ways that popularity can prove debilitating, if not destructive to online games.
Cheating has long been a criticism ofEscape from Tarkovdue to the game being built around death leading to loss of gear and loot. Losing a match in another game is of different scale compared to losing valuable, hard-earned loot inEscape from Tarkov. Battlestate Games has previously stated that cheating is one of the developer’s “most prioritized tasks,” but it’s understandably not so simple. Evenmajor publishers like Activisionand Electronic Arts don’t have perfect answers to cheating in online games.
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TheEscape from Tarkovsubreddit, one of the game’s most active online fan communities, is currently vocalizing their frustrations with what feels like a wave of unpunished cheating. Nearly the entire front page of the subreddit is full of posts showing video clips of cheaters, discussing cheating, or having meta discussions revolving around how to talk about cheating. The current top post is titled “(Serious) BSG, the entire front page of the subreddit is plastered with clips cheaters.”
What’s clear from the clips is thatEscape from Tarkovhas no recourse against the current wave of cheating. There are clips of wall hacks, auto-aim, no-clipping through walls, hovering to get rid of footsteps, infinite health, and other cheats that are so strange it’s impossible to see what’s actually going on. And the worst part is that mostEscape from Tarkovplayersjust die instantly, with no opportunity to escape or counter cheaters before losing all of their gear and loot.
There are contributing factors to the current controversy, of course.Escape from Tarkovwent through a server wipe and new update less than two weeks ago, which always brings back a surge of players. A special Twitch drops event is also ongoing. Speaking of Twitch,major streamers including Shroudand Summit1G have been playing a lot, which also brings in new players. Both players have also had encounters with cheaters recently.
There’s a reason thatBattlestate Gameshas keptEscape from Tarkovin Early Access since 2017. Battlestate has a vision for its game that it hasn’t arrived at yet, and dealing with cheaters is clearly one area that isn’t up to expectations. While the game remains massively popular, it is unclear how much will players put up with before they stop playing. There is also no telling how long before another game that does whatEscape from Tarkovdoes except without cheaters comes along. Hopefully, Battlestate addresses these concerns sooner rather than later.
Escape from Tarkovis available now on PC.
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