Escape From Tarkov released update 0.14.6 just a few hours earlier, and along with that, Battlestate Games revealed the game’s most expensive version up to this date: The Unheard Edition.
Available for $250, The Unheard Edition comes with exclusive access to a PvE co-op mode that was introduced with today’s update. This mode can also be played offline, and its progression will never be erased even after wipes.
You may think locking a highly requested feature like a PvE mode behind a paywall as big as $250 is a crazy decision by Battlestate Games, but that’s not the end of this madness!
If you purchase this new edition, you will receive two unique and exclusive new pieces of tech, that will give you some massive edge over other players in a raid.
The first item is a radio-electronic device called Mark of The Unheard, which grants you the following benefits:
- The item gives a 50% discount when using cash services in raids;
- Insured equipment returns 30% faster;
- With a 6+ Fence reputation, Scavs won’t shoot first at ranges over 60 meters away.
This item cannot be raided by other players, as it is placed in a special slot. Now, I completely ignore the discounts and the equipment return boost, but Scavs not shooting at you in ranges beyond 60 meters must be a joke. This is a definitive immunity against all Scav snipers in Escape From Tarkov, and indeed a pay-to-win feature to ignore Scavs and only focus on PMCs.
Now this becomes even more dark with the next exclusive item: A Distress Signal device. This one is not available now, but will be added in the future updates, providing the following benefits:
- When the item is activated, it produces a bright flash as well as a loud sound signal;
- Once activated, all players on your friends list will receive a notification that they can join your raid to help you.
Well, this one is completely self-explanatory. It’s like whenever you are trapped in a place and surrounded by other PMCs. you can just give an emergency call to your friends to come pick you up!
I can’t even imagine how Battlestate Games has crafted these non-sense pay-to-win items without even thinking a moment on how this could change the game for players lacking those items.
If those items were supposed to be craftable in the Hideout, I would definitely play the game more and more to have them, but making them exclusive for players who can pay $250 for a single game could only have one message: This game is pay-to-win!