Escape from Tarkov is appreciated by FPS lovers above all for its realism and ambition. With Arena, the RPG shooter is soon to conquer eSports – completely without a full release and Steam.
At the beginning of 2023, Escape from Tarkov really flexed its muscles. On Twitch, the title was at times the second most popular category in terms of viewer hours – surpassed only by “Just Chatting”. Yet the shooter with a significant RPG twist has been in the development phase for years, officially in beta since 2017. The date for the full release is still written in the stars. Instead, Battlestate Games wants to conquer eSports soon.
With Escape from Tarkov Arena, the pre-sale of which began on 24 August, the competition is to move in. The developer wants to combine the “hardcore mechanics” of the main game with “the fast-paced gameplay of session matches”. However, not just for fun, but at the highest level: Arena is to advance to a competitive eSports title. Three major tournaments with large prize pools” are planned for 2024.
The best players are to emerge from the community thanks to qualification and invitation processes that have not yet been explained in detail. Battlestate Games wants to gather these players for the Grand Final in autumn next year.
Competition in “Teamfight” and “Shootout “
This plan suggests a release of Escape from Tarkov Arena for early 2024 – a beta has not yet been released. The “Competitive Tactical PvPvE First Person Shooter”, as the developer called it at gamescom 2023, is said to feature two basic modes and at least seven maps. These are “Air Pit,” “Equator,” “Bay5,” “Resort,” “The Bowl,” “The Box” and “Sawmill.”
In the “Teamfight” mode, two larger camps compete against each other, each of which must capture the target to be defended by the opponent. “Shootout”, on the other hand, becomes a tournament mode in which players are divided into smaller teams (duos or trios) or compete solo. Only one match takes place at a time, in which two parties face each other – and simply have to eliminate each other.
The remaining participants can follow the action either from an elevated position or from a first-person perspective. When the time is up and no winner has been found, a “capture point” appears in the middle of the map, the conquest of which is equivalent to a golden goal. In the spectator area hangs a scoreboard that shows both the individual results and the overall standings in the tournament. The progress that the players make in Arena is also transferred to Escape from Tarkov – and vice versa.
No full release, not on Steam
Whether Arena can become an eSports breakthrough without a full release of the main title remains to be seen. So far, at least, the permanent development status of Escape from Tarkov has not been too detrimental to its popularity. The only question is whether availability will become a problem at some point. The RPG shooter is not available on Steam – nor in any other shop. It can only be purchased directly from the developer. The same applies to the pre-sale of Arena so far.
