Latest news with #BattlestateGames
Forbes
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Escape From Tarkov' Players Angry After AI Art Found In New Map
The new Iceberg map is proving controversial. Earlier this week a new map launched in Escape From Tarkov Arena called Iceberg, however fans have since discovered that it features AI generated artwork, and as you might expect, a lot of them are not happy. Yesterday, patch 0.3.1 for Escape From Tarkov Arena was launched, and the headline new addition was a new map for the Blast Gang and CheckPoint game modes called Iceberg, which is set in a luxury hotel that is now being used for the combat arena sport. By most accounts, it's a decent map, with a lot of players seeming to have fun in the first day of action. However, fans have now discovered some AI generated artwork on the map, and quite a few are angry and disappointed about its inclusion. The top thread on the Escape From Tarkov sub-Reddit is currently highlighting some of the AI art, and asking the developers to not use it again in either Arena or the main Tarkov game. Throughout the Iceberg map, there are posters on the walls that parody other games. Some examples include parodies of the iconic Dark Souls graphic of a character next to a bonfire, the key art of the recently released Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and artwork that appears to be referencing Steam hit Lethal Company. Many fans on the sub-Reddit theorised these images were made with AI, and now a member of the Escape From Tarkov PR team has confirmed to me that that is the case and these images were made with AI. As is the case with a lot of AI work, there has been somewhat of a backlash from areas of the Tarkov community, with some fans calling the use of AI lazy and many sharing their disappointment that developers Battlestate Games has chosen to use this technology instead of commissioning human artists. However, others are arguing that this is a good use of AI, with features of the map that are inconsequential to gameplay and something that will barely be noticed by most players. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Had these images not been made by AI these would have been some very cool Easter eggs for players to discover on the new map, but now they are creating somewhat of a negative storm, which is a common occurrence in the world of Tarkov. It's only been a year or so since the extremely controversial Unheard Edition of Tarkov that saw a lot of fans pledge to never come back to it. If you want to see the AI artwork on the Iceberg map yourself, then you are in luck, as Escape From Tarkov Arena is having a free weekend right now. You can play the game for free until 6:00 PM MSK on June 2, and there is a new task chain and double XP to enjoy when you do. If you want to purchase Arena after trying it, there is also a 20% discount for the duration of the weekend. If you would rather watch, then Twitch Drops for Tarkov Arena are currently live as well, so you can get some in game rewards to watching the action.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Forbes
A Major ‘Escape From Tarkov' Patch Arrives Tomorrow
A new Tarkov patch is coming very soon. Credit: Battlestate Games / Mike Stubbs A new Escape From Tarkov patch is set to arrive tomorrow, April 29, and it should bring with it a lot of improvements, including optimizations to key maps and a ton of user-requested features and changes that should make life a lot easier when playing. The new patch is 0.16.6.0, which was initially announced as coming in May, but appears to be launching a few days early. It will now launch tomorrow, April 29, at 8:00 AM BST / 3:00 AM EDT. The installation process for the patch will take around five hours, and during this time Escape From Tarkov will be down and not playable at all. However, as we have seen many times before, there is a chance this downtime is extended further should there be any complications with the patch deployment. While we won't get a chance to see the official Escape From Tarkov patch notes for update 0.16.6.0, we do know some of the things that should be arriving with it thanks to the recent Tarkov TV stream that revealed the Tarkov roadmap for the next few months. In it, a lot of key changes coming in the patch were revealed, as well as some of the changes we can expect in future patches as well. In the new Tarkov patch the biggest changes will arrive at a technical level, rather than in the form of new content. There will be significant optimizations for the Lighthouse map, visual improvements for Customs, which continues to be amazing since the recent rework, and audio improvements on Shoreline. There are also promised fixes for missing armor impact sounds, AI behaviour improvements, and some of the usual balance changes that we often see at this point in a wipe. The more interesting changes come in the promised improvements that have come from the Tarkov Community suggestion site. The relatively new suggestion forum has been a place for players to post their biggest gripes with Tarkov, and it seems that the devs have been taking notice. This patch should include significant quality of life improvements such as highlighting items in insurance returns that are set to expire, auto restarting failed tasks and the ability to buy all items needed for a craft at once. The Tarkov roadmap also states there will be an in-game event with patch 0.16.6.0, however don't expect this to launch tomorrow, as we tend to see new events pop up a few days after the release of a patch at the earliest. Given the last event has also only just concluded, it would be a surprise to see another so quickly, unless it is referring to the promised permanent addition of the areas from the last event. With this Escape From Tarkov patch arriving slightly earlier than expected, it seems there have already been some changes to the roadmap despite it only being shown off a few days ago. However, getting a patch sooner than expected is never a bad thing, and could mean that we get more content even sooner than planned in future.
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Escape From Tarkov' Patch Notes Add Weapon Skins And Make Ref Changes
A cool Tarkov patch has arrived. Credit: Battlestate Games / Mike Stubbs A new set of Escape From Tarkov patch notes have been released, and while the main focus is on the link between Arena and the main game, there are some exciting new additions, including the addition of weapon skins. The biggest changes come from the Escape From Tarkov Arena 0.3.0 patch notes, which also launched at the same time as the Escape From Tarkov 0.16.5.5 patch notes. For Arena, there is the launch of the first ever battle pass in the game, which is free and features over 100 rewards to unlock for players. The list of rewards is mostly what you would expect to see, but the big addition comes in the form of weapon skins, a first for Tarkov. Skins in the Escape From Tarkov Arena battle pass are surprisingly complex, with different camos being available throughout the battle pass. Interestingly they aren't just tied to a weapon, but instead can be applied to just a single weapon attachment, such as the silencer, to give you a very cool look. You can have up to three camouflages on a single weapon, although I'm expecting that to expand in the future. The only disappointing part of the new skins launch is just how limited the list of weapons that support them is, with only 13 weapons currently having skins. However, with the dev team clearly wanting to support Arena for a while with more battle passes, you can probably expect that list of weapons to grow as more battle passes launch in the future. The other big change in both sets of patch notes is a rework to Ref and his tasks, with every single Ref task getting some kind of change in the main Tarkov game. They have generally been made easier and given better rewards, meaning there is much more of a reason to complete them now. The full list of changes can be seen in the patch notes, but be warned, it's a lot of reading! As far as changes in the main Tarkov game go, that's about it, however the Arena patch notes make for much better reading with a lot of very welcome changes. There's a rework of the social systems, an English-speaking announcer, a new map for Last Hero and tons of balance changes. This update for Escape From Tarkov Arena will also coincide with the launch of the game on the Epic Games Store, with the release date set for tomorrow, April 10. Hopefully, this will give Arena a new lease of life, with tons of new players discovering the game.
