We’re Almost There... (April TarkovTV & Reflection)

(Intro)

Nikita and BSG hosted a TarkovTV livestream on the eighteenth of April, and with it they went over what could potentially be the final roadmap before the game goes 1.0. Tons of updates, optimizations, quality of life improvements, and additions being brought in specifically from community feedback. Every month has something to look forward too which is incredibly exciting; it’s been a long time since I have been actively looking forward to updates for this game, knowing the fact that by the end of this year, we might be playing a full release version of Escape From Tarkov. Whatever that looks like. Either way, there is a lot to go over with this podcast, so let’s quickly break down all the changes and then just talk about this roadmap and the entire life of EFT as a whole.

(The Roadmap)

The roadmap in its entirety is pretty jam packed all the way until August of this year. I can’t remember a time where we were receiving massive game updates every month consecutively like this. Nonetheless it shows how committed BSG is to getting this game out before the end of the year, which I commend them on. In May, we finally have some optimization coming to Lighthouse which is wonderful to see. While not the worst offender, many still struggle with playing that map and having at least decent frames, so good to hear it’s getting another pass. On the same note, Customs is also getting some visual improvements which to me right now, needs it the most. As someone who is pretty much a Customs Andy by the tail end of a wipe, this entire patch that map has played poorly so any improvements to it will be greatly appreciated. On top of that, general AI fixes, more balancing across the game, Shoreline getting improved audio, and another in-game event. May already is stacked, but even more so, BSG has been really leaning into community feedback and trying their best to directly implement it, so what is also coming into the game because of the community is more detailed information on when items in your insurance will expire which is awesome. Failed tasks will now just auto restart instead of you having to manually do it which for the guide and other quests like that is amazing. Being able to simply purchase all items for a craft in one action will be a huge time saver for those in the hideout. And to wrap up May, being able to activate transit points by holding a specific key bind which is good because many have accidentally activated one and were forced to transit instead of extract like they wanted to.

June while having fewer overall changes is still looking solid. A round of optimization for Reserve, which is kind of surprising because for me, that map is one of the better running maps, so maybe there are those who still struggle to play on it which is always good to see those improvements. And other than that June is more focused on backend stuff like more AI and audio changes which will hopefully just get us closer to more accurate audio that doesn’t get us sent back to our stash. The weather will also change to summer and for the community additions, a warning before you enter a raid if you have quest items on you which might be genuinely one of the best additions in a long time. Now people won’t accidentally bring their delivery from the past item with them to other maps. Stash sorting is improved, wearing glasses will lower flashlight glare so we might be seeing a glasses meta emerge. The game will buy currency you are lacking if you need it to buy another item. Improved sorting of tasks, and the highlighting of attachments you can buy when building a weapon. So again, not as much stuff as May, but still important and looking forward to June.

July has even less but we’re still seeing good changes across the board. Shoreline getting optimized for those who still have trouble running that map. Ground Zero is getting optimized which to be honest, this one throws me off because the map is so small compared to others, but hey, I will not complain about improvements to make the game run better. More fixes in general and improved third-person gunshot audio. July will also be the next in-game event after May, so we’ll have something to look forward to playing.

And now we’re in August, and it has the least additions coming compared to all the previous months. Interchange getting not only optimizations but an expansion. This is a huge shocker to me because we recently talked about Interchange and how I feel as though this map deserves an expansion the most compared to any other. So, I am very glad it’s happening and am looking forward to what it turns into. But other than that, just more fixes improvements, and a large scale in-game event. What this means, we have no idea, but I would imagine it’s going to be something really big to almost celebrate the game pretty much being ready for 1.0. After that it will be a waiting game before Tarkov finally, after over nine years of development, finally hits a 1.0 state and is technically a fully released game. We still don’t have an exact date, but if I take a guess, I would say sometime in October.

(The journey to this point)

EFT has been through a very long and tumultuous journey. As I mentioned earlier, over nine years of development, a lot of ups and downs not only for the game itself but for the community and the developers as well. But we now can see a light at the end of this tunnel. And that’s a new and strange feeling. For so many years, we just kind of went through the motions; waiting to see when the next wipe was coming and all the changes and additions that would coincide. But now, we’re coming to a point where we might not see wipes anymore. Nikita did mention that once 1.0 does happen, they won’t be stopping development of supporting the game. They still have some DLCs they’ll want to include, and some new and according to him, groundbreaking additions that will change EFT even more than 1.0 will. So, we’ll just have to wait and see if he is being truthful or not. But to his credit, there have been many events of things added into EFT that were big deals. The labyrinth being the newest one added; something that is so different for EFT in terms of the vibe and what it stands for but also feeling grounded in this universe because the cultists exist. The zombie's event was another huge one because we had never seen AI in quantities like that unless you did an offline horde raid on Factory and made your PC explode doing so. BSG has proven they can think outside the box and implement cool and unique mechanics to such a complex game. But they have also proven how inept they can be at times and make mistakes in the process. But everything, and I mean everything that has happened, has ultimately led us to this roadmap. Perhaps the final one, who knows. But either way, when 1.0 does launch it will be a time of celebration. Not just the BSG and the team, but for the community. We made it; what the game will look like is still unclear, but we got all the way to the end. And that’s a big deal.

(Outro)

Overall, this roadmap looks promising in a lot of areas that still need attention. Maps being improved, audio still being tackled and tons of quality-of-life improvements across the game that will just add time to people being in-raid instead of in their stash. The fact we can expect a major update every month for the foreseeable future is something we haven’t had in years. It’s usually been a wipe with major patch, and then some small stuff along the way until the next major update that coincides with another wipe. But we are seeing a hard and deliberate push to the end game of EFT from the developers and it’s a good thing to see. Hopefully they can deliver on everything listed here and finish strong. Escape From Tarkov 1.0 is almost here, and it’s an exciting time for sure. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the roadmap as a whole, take a guess when you think the game’s official release date will be and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the final push for a game we’ve been talking about for over four and a half years. I hope to see you in future ones.