Latest news with #EscapeFromTarkov
Forbes
4 days ago
- 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.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bungie's Marathon reboot — here's what you need to know
In this week's gaming round-up, we get insights from a former PlayStation legend, while also highlighting a slew of news on retiring VTubers and leaks. The big picture Bungie has shown off a new gameplay of its upcoming extraction multiplayer shooter title Marathon, a Player-versus-Player-versus-Environment-focused remake of a trilogy of single-player shooters. The game's art style looks slick, and its gunplay and controls feel top-notch and akin to past Bungie titles like the Destiny duology and the Halo trilogy. However, that may not be enough to stand out in a crowded shooter market, from similar titles like Escape From Tarkov to PvP-focused games like Marvel Rivals, or even battle royale giants like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile. Let's also not forget that today's Bungie is not the same studio that made the best Destiny expansions or the Halo titles up to Halo: Reach. Bungie has until its release date of Sept 23 to make Marathon as enticing as possible — and even post-launch, the road ahead will be tough to rise above the competition. Short beats Larian Studios has released its final update for the acclaimed computer RPG, Baldur's Gate 3. The patch features 12 new subclasses, Photo Mode, and more quality-of-life upgrades. Famous 'Let's Play' VTuber Gawr Gura is set to graduate on May 1 due to conflicts with her current management. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake is set to launch the week of April 21; screenshots were leaked on Virtuos' homepage before it was made private. EA has announced a new Star Wars turn-based strategy game called Star Wars: Zero Company. Action-adventure open-world sci-fi game Prototype might be making a comeback. Op-Eds We interviewed Shuhei Yoshida, ex-PlayStation production and games industry veteran. He shared insights on PlayStation consoles and portables, indie games and Malaysian developers, and also discussed the most influential games of the past decade. Since it's Easter weekend, we also explore the best resurrections in gaming. Games out this week Bionic Bay is an action platformer where a scientist uses a teleportation instrument to escape an ancient biomechanical world filled with imaginative tech, deadly traps, and hidden secrets. Built for speedrunning. Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a 2.5D search action title set in a dark fantasy world. Players battle monsters across a 40+ hour story, master six unique classes, craft hundreds of items, and explore a sprawling world. Rusty Rabbit is a metroidvania starring a bunny in a mecha suit. Stamp, a rabbit with an old soul, pilots his mech 'Junkster' through the icy ruins of a frozen world in this side-scrolling action-adventure. Lunar: Remastered Collection brings back two classic late-90s JRPGs — Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar: Eternal Blue. Recommended viewing To celebrate the upcoming launch of 2D fighting game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves next week, SNK has teamed up with anime director Masami Obari for a special Fatal Fury music video. As mentioned above, VTuber Gawr Gura is graduating on May 1. Here's a highlight reel reminding us why she became one of the most popular names in the scene.
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New ‘Escape From Tarkov' Roadmap Shows Full Release Coming This Year
Tarkov will launch this year. A new roadmap has been released for Escape From Tarkov, which reveals the upcoming patch schedule and confirms that the full 1.0 official release of Escape From Tarkov is still coming this year. The new roadmap was revealed on the TarkovTV live stream earlier today, and revealed that there will be at least four major patches in the coming months, and seemingly before the next wipe, then Tarkov will launch into 1.0 in 2025. There was no specific release date given, but it is seemingly official confirmation that Tarkov is on track to launch this year. Of course, release dates have been teased before, with late 2024 being the first date teased many years ago. That has obviously come and gone, and it looks like late 2025 is now going to be the main release window for Tarkov. The somewhat worrying part of this roadmap is that there doesn't appear to be any kind of wipe within it. The roadmap details patches until August, which is usually the latest we would expect a summer wipe, but the patch title is listed as 0.16.9, suggesting that it will not include a wipe. This question was asked by a fan, however no concrete answer was given by the devs, and it seemed they did not know the answer. Given this is usually a very straightforward question they tend to answer, my gut is saying there will be no wipe before launch. The stream ended with a very brief look at the upcoming Terminal map, showing a few of the locations we have seen in screenshots but in video form. And we got our first look at what cut scenes will look like in Tarkov and on the Terminal map, with a couple of screenshots being shown of NPCs. 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 Outside of the launch speculation, we got a lot of news about upcoming optimisations, including improvements to almost every map. There is also an expansion of Interchange listed for the August patch, which better include some reworked extraction points, otherwise I may never play that awful map again. A big audio rework is promised, yet again, and should arrive with the June patch. We've obviously seen countless audio reworks come and go with mixed results, but the short clip we saw of this in action did look impressive. There's also some teased new weapons, updated animations for AK weapons, and a lot of the usual changes you would expect to see with Tarkov patches, along with more than a few very cool quality of life improvements that should remove some of the smaller annoying issues Tarkov still has. There isn't the massive amount of new content we are used to, but we know almost all of that is being saved for the launch patch, so it should not come as too much of a surprise that these are more focused on optimisation and improvements before the release. While no concrete info was given, it was also announced that Escape From Tarkov: Arena will be coming to Steam sometime soon, following its recent launch on the Epic Games Store. Nikita also confirmed that the main Tarkov game will eventually come to Steam, but don't expect that to happen anytime soon. During the TarkovTV live stream, a number of promo codes were also released, which will give you some free in game items if you redeem them in game. You'll need to activate these codes in the Tarkov launcher, and when they have been activated you will get the items delivered to you using the in game mail system. However, you'll need to be quick as these promo codes tend to only last for a few hours.
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.
