Many game developers are being affected by the Russia-Ukraine War, but Battlestate Games doesn't anticipate any problems with Escape from Tarkov due to sanctions on Russia or other issues.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War is having effects on many people in many industries, and gaming is no exception. Developers in Ukraine such as Frogwares have shared stories of the challenges living in (or near) a warzone. Hotly-anticipated games such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 have effectively halted development due to the developers being based in Ukraine.
With the world's eyes on Ukraine, it can be easy to forget that there are game developers in Russia, too. The government sanctions and halting of services from private businesses has already affected some developers; for example, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous developer Owlcat Games is unable to ship Kickstarter backer rewards due to shipping companies stopping services in Russia.
Enter Battlestate Games, developer of the popular first-person shooter Escape from Tarkov. They, too, are headquartered in Russia, leading some players to raise concerns about the future of this online-only game. Thankfully, one developer has taken the time to ease their concerns.
Will Escape from Tarkov Go Down Due to the Russia-Ukraine War?
As highlighted on Reddit, Instagram user clevelanderforlife asked one of the devs about the state of Escape from Tarkov and the game's connectivity in light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. Said developer took a moment to respond.
"Everything will be fine," damirka_ea replied.
While damirka_ea did not go into specifics, there is a good reason that Escape from Tarkov is unlikely to be seriously affected by anything going on in Russia. AltChar covers the subject well -- it notes that while many of the game's developers are living and working in Russia, Battlestate Games is actually headquartered in London.
There is also the matter of Tarkov's servers. There is no one "Tarkov" server that you connect to; there are dozens of servers located all throughout the world, including the United States and Europe. While Russia does have 8 servers of its own, the other European servers could pick up the slack if anything prevents players from connecting to the Russian servers.
State of the game aside, Battlestate Games has otherwise chosen to remain radio silent on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict -- a choice that has been made by several other Russian game developers, too. For now, the game is still quite playable -- you can pre-order Escape from Tarkov on PC starting at $44.99 or your regional equivalent and get instant access to its long-running closed beta.
