Battlestate Games Comes Under Fire
Battlestate Games is under fire again after failing to fulfill promises it made to refund Escape from Tarkov players. Despite initially claiming refunds would come to players, the studio issued vouchers with restrictions.
According to Kotaku, Battlestate Games has decided not to return the $50 content upgrade in the form of cash. However, players are offered a $50 voucher that can be used to purchase in-game content. The studio explained the process on its X channel.
“All players who upgraded to The Unheard Edition from the Edge of Darkness Edition before the upgrade price was lowered are eligible for a $50 compensation. Please note that you can only use the compensation once: if the cost of all the expansions you have selected is lower than the compensation, the remaining balance cannot be used later.”
Consequently, participants with the voucher only receive one opportunity to use the balance. This means that if you want to purchase something for less than $50 now and save the rest for later, you cannot do so. You will lose those funds.
Players are offended that the studio is giving out coupons rather than refunds. They feel cheated by these vouchers and the conditions attached. Some players even joked, using a tombstone emoji and saying, “Here lies Tarkov.”.
Adding insult to injury, Battlestate also included two additional in-game Stash lines. In the grand scheme of things, this addition does not add much value to compensate for what has been lost by those who purchased the Edge of Darkness edition. This is essentially how this whole problem started in the first place.
Many studios have made similar errors, failing to stand by simple promises. Digging out of such agreements may end up digging their own grave. Refunds in the form of vouchers are a welcomed exchange in this instance. Players were expecting nothing less than their money back.
A smarter move would have been to give players the option to choose new content or a refund. The studio would have won both ways – credibility and content sales.