Nikita Buyanov, the director of Escape From Tarkov, made a public apology for what the players felt was the horrendous launch of Version 1.0 that bred technical stability concerns and a review-bombing rush the moment it hit the stores. Battlestate Games’ extraction shooter had been in a protracted beta setting for years, building such excitement that, sadly, it cashed in on a global server failure as it went open to the masses.
The players’ angst massively arose from server congestion, which led to crazy waiting hours and horrible matchmaking problems. For the players attempting to get on the long-awaited full version, access to the experience remained above the player’s head, considering the extensive pre-testing of the title. Such massive influx of engagement was matured to signify the commitment of the community to the cause, yet it turned to be overwhelming for the infrastructure that had been prepared for the November 2025 release. Buyanov thanked the “overwhelming interest” but mentioned that the execution was highly flawed.
Battlestate Games has promised to stabilize the game as soon as possible. To relieve server stress, development is committed to adding new servers to their network, especially in trying to minimize long wait times as quickly as possible. Apart from the infrastructure fix, Buyanov gave assurances that many bug fixes and optimizations will be put in place in the upcoming months. Notably, the studio confirmed it is fast-tracking repairs to a specific bug affecting Standard Edition players who are currently unable to access certain in-game traders.
Despite admitting to the outstanding tasks ahead, Buyanov’s statement attempted to draw a distinction between what he termed “real fans” and the loud minority responsible for the review-bombing. This echoes the director’s previous belief that only a small, albeit loud portion of an otherwise massive player base would react negatively to the studio. Nonetheless, the developers maintain that their top priority is to deliver the polished product the community deserves and expects. Looking past these immediate fixes, Buyanov also confirmed that long-term plans for both the dedicated console version and future DLC are still on the agenda for the company.
