Tarkov is getting an unexpected wipe.
Credit: Battlestate Games / Mike Stubbs
A new Escape From Tarkov wipe is due to arrive in the next few weeks, with an announcement at the Tokyo Game Show confirming another wipe is due before launch.
Escape From Tarkov game director Nikita Buyanov took part in a Q&A session at the Tokyo Game Show where he confirmed that another Tarkov wipe is due before the 1.0 launch on November 15. With just a few weeks until that date, chances are the next Tarkov wipe will arrive sooner rather than later.
There had been mentions of another Tarkov wipe before launch, especially with the current hardcore wipe making a lot of changes and the dev team wanting to test things one final time before the big launch. But with time quickly running out many fans, myself included, assumed this had been scrapped to focus on the full launch.
But the Tokyo Game Show session has brought the big news that a new wipe will arrive before launch, and will return things to a more normal state of Tarkov. The wipe will be a “softcore” wipe where more things will be opened up, and skill progression will be changed to make things easier for players. This is so the dev team can compare things to the hardcore wipe and learn what has worked and what hasn’t.
Buyanov did caveat his statement by saying that there is a chance it may not be a full wipe in terms of resetting progression, that is still to be decided, but given the language he used to describe the update, including saying the word wipe multiple times, it does seem more likely than not that a full new wipe will arrive before Tarkov launches.
If a wipe does arrive in the coming days then the hardcore wipe, and obviously the upcoming softcore wipe, would be two of the shortest in Tarkov history. However, with the full launch of the game coming in November, now is certainly the time to test new things and have a bit of fun before things once again get a little more serious in November.
Nikita also confirmed that seasonal wipes will happen after the full launch of Tarkov, with you being able to run seasonal characters that wipe as well as keep your overall progress going across wipes.
Elsewhere in the Q&A Buyanov revealed that Bear players are still planned to have some kind of faction bonus like USEC has with the Rogues, and that it could come in the form of extra help on the upcoming Terminal map. He also reiterated that the team has a lot of plans for future content after the Escape From Tarkov launch, and some of those plans would be revealed soon.
