The Russian game is the most popular in the world. But the success of “Escape from Tarkov” is not to everyone’s liking. At the end of 2019, Takov’s game suddenly became one of the most popular games in the world. But after a year, Tarkov’s popularity has been greatly reduced. So today we take a look at why Escape from Tarkov is only Short-lived.
The lack of high-profile novelties during the 2020 New Year holidays forced gamers to pay attention to those games that they had missed earlier – many chose Tarkov. In addition, these days the authors have launched rallies among the audience, which has increased the already considerable interest in the game. But the game from St. Petersburg developers leads the top Twitch in terms of the number of views. Critics believe that the authors of Escape from Tarkov are not playing fair.
Russian authors position Escape from Tarkov is a realistic multiplayer online game that combines several different genres at once – it is simultaneously a first-person shooter, a combat simulator, and an RPG with MMO elements. The result was something really new, and it was able to attract players from many regions. Even if not right away.
On the most successful days, the domestic shooter leads the world’s top Twitch games in terms of the number of views: broadcasts dedicated to Tarkov gather up to 300 thousand viewers at the same time. Sometimes the first position goes to the section “Communication” or the popular esports disciplines Dota 2 and CS: GO, but the overall picture strongly distinguishes the game from a number of others.
First, a little about the game. Tarkov is a fictional city in the Norvinsk region, besieged by mercenaries of the Terra Group corporation and opponents in the person of the Russian military in 2028. While the parties, in isolation from the outside world, are fighting for resources, residents are looking for a new place in Tarkov. Some become marauders and protect the loot, others sell medicines and weapons. There are those who want to leave the scary place in any way.
Initially, such a shooter plot does not look very bright. The flavor of Escape from Tarkov is given by multiplayer: quests and raids can be carried out with friends, and you will be opposed by both computer rivals and other players. The battle for the resources necessary for survival and progress in the storyline in such conditions becomes much more interesting, reminding players of the times of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Arma 3.
Another plus for games of this type is realism, and the developers were well aware of this from the very start. Combat actions already resemble real ones in ballistics and physics, but much is still ahead. Each trauma or injury sustained should affect the character’s behavior, and players, over time, will completely shape the economic model of the game. Plus there is a change of day and night, seasons and the situation in the city.
Escape from Tarkov really looks cool, although due to its peculiarities it is not suitable for everyone. As in a real war, the cost of a mistake is too high to risk unnecessarily or to shoot hundreds of opponents every day. For the same reason, preparation for the mission takes a lot of time – buying and selling EFT items, choosing the necessary equipment.
In other words, watching a game on Twitch shouldn’t be as exciting as playing it yourself – but where do the hundreds of thousands of viewers come from? Someone accuses the authors of paying popular streamers and reviewers for EFT videos. Others, like streamer Mike shroud Grzesik, attribute the rise in popularity of Escape from Tarkov to in-game gifts for viewers, which are automatically played on streams of the game.
The Canadian believes that after the end of the action, the audience will immediately leave, and the streamers will forget about their love for Tarkov. And there is some truth in Grzesik’s vocabulary: gifts to players really increase the number of viewers. But isn’t this the essence of the developers’ action from the very beginning? They managed to achieve their goal (to increase the popularity of the game), and hundreds of thousands of people learned about the Russian shooter.
Now, game makers will have to think about how to keep new gamers interested. There are prospects – the game is still in the closed beta stage, and the authors are constantly adding content and various features to the game. If the Escape from Tarkov team continues in this spirit, the shooter has a great future in the global market. So the domestic game industry did not please us for a very long time.