The latest roadmap for gritty extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov has just gone live, promising a wide range of fresh new updates for the hardcore FPS.
Easily one of the best FPS games of its genre, Escape from Tarkov helped define the modern extraction shooter, using MMO-adjacent looting mechanics to give each mission a sense of persistence, not unlike Diablo 4.
Developers Battlestate Games took to Twitter yesterday to reveal a roadmap for the game, including details on impending updates leading up to the August Wipe, as well as further additions to the game in the run-up to December.
Perhaps the most anticipated new feature coming before the August Wipe is the addition of loadout presets, which will save you the tedium of rebuilding your loadout every time you perish. A sidearm quick-swap feature is also being added, which could be the difference between life and death in a pinch. New weapons are also being added, including the PKM, SVT, AVT, AK-12, Sawed-off shotgun, and additional weapon mods.
After the August Wipe, we're going to see a rework of the game's recoil mechanics - a highly significant change given the game's emphasis on realism. This period of updates will also see the addition of vaulting, allowing for more creative movement options as well as a rework of armor hitboxes. As with the previous wave of updates, we can expect more weapons on the scene including the RPD, SCAR GL, SIG Spear, 9A91, and VKS-94.
For a full list of changes, check out the tweet below:
Preliminary roadmap to #EscapefromTarkov updates pic.twitter.com/nSb3fkQEpDJuly 19, 2023
In addition to these more high-profile changes, Tarkov is also set to enjoy some more subtle, under-the-hood improvements, too. AI behavior has a prominent place on the roadmap across both update periods, as does client performance optimization and improvements to the game's anti cheat software and backend infrastructure.
All in all, there's never been a better time to get into one of the best multiplayer PC games out there. See you in the streets.
Tarkov's emphasis on teamwork makes it one of the best co-op games out there, but don't let all these shiny updates distract you from all the other great upcoming games on the horizon in 2023.
