MOVIE NEWS – For many fans, Escape from Tarkov no longer feels like a videogame, but like a kind of cosmic punishment. After nine long years of waiting, its long-delayed debut on Steam has gone down as one of the store’s most chaotic launches, with most buyers on Valve’s platform unable to even get the game running on day one.

The release of Escape from Tarkov on Steam is already being remembered as one of the rockiest launches in the platform’s history. After spending nine years in early access, Battlestate Games’ shooter finally arrived on Valve’s store, promising its most polished version yet, but a lot of players were met with something very different. Server instability and constant connection errors meant that a large portion of those who bought the game on Steam could not even get past the login screen, which in turn dragged down the concurrent player numbers and triggered a wave of negative user reviews.

In just the first few hours after launch, the game racked up more than 10,000 user reviews, and at the time of writing only about 31% of them are positive on Steam. One frustrated player summed up the situation like this: “I’ve spent over four hours trying to log in. This isn’t a gaming experience, it’s hell.” Another went even further in a sarcastic tirade: “Escape from Tarkov isn’t a game, it’s a cosmic punishment sent by indifferent gods who want to remind humanity of its insignificance.” It is worth stressing that, understandable as this anger may be, most of the comments are not judging the core gameplay, but venting about the technical chaos that has surrounded the launch.

According to Nikita Buyanov, the game’s director and founder of Battlestate Games, the root cause of the problems was an overload of services tied to the game. He explained that the team had prepared for the release, but did not foresee traffic spikes up to four times higher than usual on key elements such as the launcher and the authentication platform. The studio now insists that it is working around the clock to fix the situation, while the game’s official social channels have issued an apology and promised that all affected players will receive compensation in the near future.

The situation has been frustrating for everyone involved, yet it is not completely out of character for the game. Long-time fans know that the start of a new wipe has almost always come with problems for Escape from Tarkov. This time, however, the developers have had to deal with a full reset and the excitement around Version 1.0 at the same time, which has drawn in millions of returning players who had already bought the game over the last decade, plus a fresh wave of newcomers who were waiting specifically for the Steam launch. Put together, those factors have made this reset even more chaotic than usual, even if everything should gradually stabilize over the coming days.

A Tip If You Are Just Starting Escape from Tarkov

They say every cloud has a silver lining, and if for some reason you are only now thinking about jumping into Escape from Tarkov, this rocky launch could actually work in your favor. The community has discovered that LEDX, one of the rarest items in the entire game, now has a guaranteed spawn in the tutorial mission. This piece of equipment is crucial for progressing through certain tasks, and if you skip it during that first run it can take you dozens of hours to find another one. If you are interested in securing it quickly, it is worth checking out detailed guides that explain exactly how to grab it during the tutorial.

Source: 3djuegos