Escape From Tarkov players rage as developers lock co-op PvE behind a new $250 edition despite promising access to 'all subsequent DLCs' in its old $150 edition

Battlestate Games has unveiled a new $250 edition of Escape From Tarkov that includes access to a PvE mode with co-op support and persistent progress that won't be reset when the game is wiped. It sounds pretty cool, but it has quite a few players upset because the mode is only accessible with the new, very expensive edition of the game—even though the previously-released $150 Edge of Darkness Edition of Tarkov, which is no longer available, promised «free access to all subsequent DLCs.»

Battlestate Games claims that the new mode doesn't qualify as DLC, an argument that is going over with Tarkov players about as well as you'd expect.

The addition of a PvE mode with no wipes is a pretty big deal. As it stands, Tarkov is a PvP-only game, with server wipes that occur every several months, completely resetting player progress. Being able to explore its very Chernobyl-like setting with friends, without having to worry about getting popped by other players, is obviously appealing (especially for those of us who aren't quite as handy in a fight against other humans as we used to be).

The problem with the new mode appears to be twofold. One, the Unheard Edition's whopping $250 price. And two, Battlestate has declared the PvE mode is not DLC but a «feature,» and thus the people who sprung for the Edge of Darkness Edition—which seemed pretty damn future-proof at $150—don't get access. Owners of the Edge of Darkness Edition can upgrade to the Unheard Edition, but that will cost $100, no small amount of change in its own right.

That message was delivered by appl3z0r, the lead community manager for Escape From Tarkov. «It ain't DLC, it's [a] unique feature of the new edition,» they said in a message in the official Escape From Tarkov Discord server.

«DLC means additional content,» appl3z0r added in a separate message. «PvE is a feature and a game mode. Just because you all want it to become a DLC it wouldn't mean it is one. It's [a] featured game mode for the new edition of the