There’s a nine-minute gameplay video that’s circulating online, taken from Escape From Tarkov: Arena. It debuted during the Tokyo Game Show, and it’s part of the campaign to market Tarkov: Arena to as wide an audience as possible. The game’s developer, Battlestate Games, has been on a showcase spree of late, and many of the game’s fans and creators have been getting hands-on with Escape From Tarkov: Arena.
However, in this nine-minute gameplay video – which is just raw footage – we get a look at the esports potential wrapped up in Tarkov: Arena. For years, Escape From Tarkov has fostered an esports scene, but it hasn’t ever amounted to much and it has been reliant on grassroots activations and support. With Tarkov: Arena, that potential is skyrocketing, and it’s clearly going to enable Battlestate Games to build a much better-structured esports ecosystem.
Tarkov Couldn’t, But Arena Can
Escape From Tarkov’s esports scene has been restricted almost entirely to the most talented Tarkov players in the world. It’s a challenging game – one of the hardest ever developed – but the esports scene was another level entirely. With the introduction of Tarkov: Arena, which is a standalone game (that’s also fused with the core Escape From Tarkov experience), there are so many more opportunities for more casual players to compete on the platform.
It’s not exactly Call of Duty or Rainbow Six Siege, but it’s a more ‘arcade’ experience, putting players in arenas to play a range of typical multiplayer modes. There are mini-tournament modes, round-based stages, and everything from team deathmatch-style battles to round-robin micro-competitions. It writes itself when it comes to esports potential, and from the metas to the maps, it’s certainly going to be one to keep a competitive eye on in the future.
There’s still a market for those competing in the traditional Tarkov space, of course. It’s something that usually plays out in the form of points-based contests. This is an extraction shooter that involves intense scenes of combat, so there are usually points awarded for player kills and successful extractions. It’s easily a tougher concept than what’s going to be made available when Tarkov: Arena is released.
Related: When's The Next Tarkov Wipe?
How Can You Get Involved with Tarkov: Arena?
If you’ve got the Edge of Darkness edition of Escape From Tarkov, then you’re in luck – you already own Tarkov: Arena. There are cross-game integrations that’ll see you use or level up your PMC in Tarkov: Arena, and for the most part, all the mechanics are the same. By that, we mean that you heal in the same way, manage your inventory the same, and you’ll use all the same weapons and equipment that are available in the base game.
For those that don’t already own Escape From Tarkov, Tarkov: Arena will be a separate purchase. It’s not yet known how much it’ll cost, but we can imagine it’ll be somewhere in the region of €35.
There are some veterans who are complaining about the existence of Tarkov: Arena, stressing that it’s going to dilute the challenging, hardcore experience that has been present in the game since it hit the market in 2016. However, diversification is never a bad thing, and as a three-year veteran of Tarkov, I say Arena looks fantastic.
Read Next: Why Is Escape From Tarkov Popular?
