Tarkov studio claims it actually doesn't have the server capacity for everyone who bought the game for $150 to play its upcoming PvE mode, still wants players to pay extra

pcgamer.com:

In what has rapidly eclipsed Fallout 4's mod-breaking «next-gen» update as the biggest unforced error of the week in PC gaming, Escape From Tarkov dev Battlestate is still holding firm that players who bought the $150 Edge of Darkness edition of the game will not have access to an upcoming PvE mode in the game⁠—one where your progress persists between server wipes, no less. That feature was announced as part of a new $250 Unheard Edition⁠—even though the $150 EoD edition promised access to «all future DLC» for Tarkov.

In a statement shared on the Tarkov subreddit, Battlestate offered some conciliatory new pricing options for the PvE mode, and also claimed that the mode's servers won't be able to handle the traffic from every $150 EoD player in early access.

The post began by once again asserting Battlestate's frustrating semantic argument behind gating the PvE mode behind an even more expensive purchase: it's not «DLC» by Battlestate's own definition. «First of all, PvE gamemode this is not DLC,» Battlestate wrote. «DLC in our understanding is the major additions to the game, including various functionality and content that are released after the official release of the game as a themed DLC pack (Scav Life DLC for example, which will add a lot of new mechanics and content for Scav gameplay and leveling).»

The second paragraph then has an eyebrow-raising secondary explanation for why Battlestate is holding so firm on this: that «the PvE mode is necessarily located entirely on a separate network infrastructure, because, essentially, you play on our servers, only in closed mode.

»At this stage, it is not possible to launch all players who are EoD holders⁠—right now we simply do not have the required amount of resources for this."

Battlestate says that the server capacity will increase in time for Tarkov's full release⁠—whenever that may come, the game is still technically in early access⁠—and $150 EoD purchasers will get full, permanent access to the PvE mode at that