Escape From Tarkov boss says the threat of Steam review bombing isn't a concern: "let them bomb us"

If you want a hardcore shooter that'll make your heart pound out of your chest (and your fists pound through your desk, most likely) Escape From Tarkov is absolutely one of the best FPS games for you. However, despite over nine years in early access and huge popularity, it's an odd outlier in that it never came to Steam. It's not totally alone - Riot's biggest multiplayer games, for example, are also absent from Valve's platform. But Tarkov will finally make the jump when its 1.0 version arrives later this month. While it's a huge opportunity to attract new players, it also carries the risk of public review bombing - EFT is no stranger to criticism, and another major false step could see its Steam page polluted with an ugly user rating. However, Battlestate Games' enigmatic COO and game director Nikita Buyanov couldn't be less worried. Speaking to PCGamesN, he says he isn't concerned by "a small percentage of people that hate us."

While a 1.0 launch is a momentous occasion for any game, it seems particularly huge for Escape From Tarkov. A true endgame awaits players, one where you might actually, after all these years, escape. From Tarkov. A wild concept, I know. But the decision to launch on Steam is just as big as the new content and gameplay innovations when it comes to the game's future.

Even if it totally nails the landing, EFT's hardcore nature and past faux pas could still see its Steam user score take a hit. I personally hope that it doesn't get unfairly tanked, but sections of the Tarkov community have proven to be incredibly outspoken in the past.

"We don't have a specific strategy for [review bombing]," Buyanov tells us. "We just want to release the game. For people. To put an exclamation point on the history of Tarkov and finally give players end-game content. You see, a huge number of people have been playing Tarkov for a very long time. And among this huge number, there is a small percentage of people who hate us. Will they go and do review bombing? Well, let them go ahead and do it. Steam has its own protocols for dealing with this. There are people who want to bomb us - let them bomb us, we'll see what comes of it. We are doing our job and will continue to do it for those who are with us and in the know. The release on Steam is not for the sake of reviews and ratings, but for those who want to play through Steam."

If you want a recent example of the community getting hot-headed about an issue, some existing ETF players were not best pleased to hear they'd have to buy the game all over again on Steam if they wanted to play on Valve's platform. I can understand the frustration in having to double dip, but it's not like it's commonplace for devs and publishers to give you shared ownership across multiple platforms. We ask Buyanov if the backlash to this seemingly normal decision has made Battlestate rethink.

"No, it didn't," he says. "First of all, it's strange. It's as if we decided: let them buy twice. [But] that's how game distribution rules work. Virtually all games that were released and available for purchase through their website when launched on Steam do not give away free copies. It's impossible to just give away millions of keys. Secondly, Steam is a useful thing, but if you already play Tarkov, nothing has changed for you; you continue to play as before. You can buy the most basic edition on Steam, and the largest version in your library will automatically be linked to it."

Escape From Tarkov launches on Steam alongside its 1.0 update on Saturday, November 15. Even though it's dropping in the wake of Battlefield 6, the new Call of Duty, and breakout new extraction shooter Arc Raiders, I still anticipate a huge swell of players on Steam - I can imagine a similar spike will be felt through Battlestate's own launcher, too. Let's just hope that its user rating is just as impressive.

For some eye-wateringly good scores, check out our comprehensive list of the best PC games you can play right now. To see what else is dropping on Steam for the rest of the year, head to our upcoming PC games guide.