Today’s Escape from Tarkov update hasn’t gone down well with fans. Among the large list of alterations, the recoil of a number of weapons has been changed, and it’s also been confirmed that certain microtransactions are on the way, too.
Patch Notes Changes
To be exact, as per the 0.14.1.0 patch notes, “the recoil parameters for pistols, shotguns, and the SKS carbine” have been adjusted. Players on Reddit have been questioning why the changes were made in the first place, with one dubbing pistols as “basically unusable” with the new alterations.
Fan Reactions
“The machine pistols were FINE. The SKS was FINE. Shotguns were FINE. Literally, nobody complained about these guns being [overpowered] and I know from experience that it took some fine tweaking to get these guns where they are now,” one user wrote.
“Yeah pistols are basically unusable now,” added another.
“100 percent. Literally nobody asked for recoil changes and the community unanimously agreed the recoil was perfect this wipe. These changes need to be reverted ASAP. They are atrocious and nobody asked for this,” another agreed.
Microtransaction Concerns
As for the microtransactions, the patch notes have revealed that “in the near future, the in-game stash expansion and access to the practice co-op mode will become available for purchase on the official Escape from Tarkov website.”
Not everyone is thrilled about this, either. One Reddit user wrote: “Biggest worry here is that they’ll eventually jump the shark and start selling absurd clown/dinosaur-themed skins and katana melee weapons after a while like virtually every other ‘live service’ shooter seems to do these days.”
Over on Twitter / X, another player said: “This is extremely disappointing to see.”
Developer Response
In a post on Reddit, Battlestate Games’ studio head and chief operating officer, Nikita Buyanov, spoke about the upcoming “purchasable options.” He explained that they’re being introduced in order to allow all players the option to access things that were previously included exclusively in the Edge of Darkness version of the game, which is no longer available for purchase. He also pointed out that the game has been running for almost eight years without any extra in-game purchases at all.
Buyanov reiterated that there are plans to add “stash expansions for every version available,” as well as “early unlock” for clothing, and the ability to play co-op offline. “There will [be] no in-game money, items, weapons, gear package purchases and so on. No boosters also,” he added.
Future Considerations
It remains to be seen if the weapon recoil or in-game purchase plans will be altered at all as a result of the negative fan reaction, but regarding microtransactions specifically, Buyanov encouraged players to give the developers their feedback.
For more games like Escape from Tarkov, be sure to check out our list of the best FPS games, as well as the best multiplayer PC games.