Escape From Tarkov says a mysterious "hardcore wipe" is coming soon

For Escape From Tarkov players, wipes are part and parcel of the experience. Even though you grinded so hard to get your stash overflowing with great gear, weapons, and items, wipes ensure no one stays on top forever. However, for the next Tarkov wipe in July, Battlestate Games is doing something a little different. As revealed in its latest roadmap for the extraction shooter, players will soon experience a "hardcore wipe" which will likely mean an even harder reset than usual.

While there's currently no official explanation from Battlestate as to what a hardcore Escape From Tarkov wipe entails, the most supported theory right now is that it will bring about some of the conditions and restrictions of a 'hardcore' playstyle. While there isn't an actual hardcore mode in Tarkov, top players looking to challenge themselves can live by self-imposed hardcore rulesets, which often involves limited or no access to the flea market, no scav runs, and basically anything else that would make an already difficult experience even tougher. A 'hardcore' wipe could potentially make similar limitations mandatory for all players, as well as resetting everyone's accounts.

Tarkov is deserving of a spot on our best FPS games list for its unforgiving realism - it's what makes players keep coming back - but this hardcore wipe is likely going to crank things up a notch for everybody, not just those opting in to the more punishing way to play the game.

With the Escape From Tarkov 1.0 release date set to drop later this year, I'm wondering if this is one final early access hurrah, or maybe even a last-minute experiment to see how well players receive a more brutal wipe.

Escape From Tarkov's hardcore wipe is scheduled to drop some time in July 2025 with update 0.16.8.0. Also included in this update, according to Battlestate's roadmap, is the addition of new Prestige levels and more customization options.

The roadmap then shows a final early access update will arrive in August, which will feature an in-game event, full "synchronization" between Tarkov and its multiplayer spinoff EFT Arena, and optimizations for Shoreline, Ground Zero, and Interchange. Once that's out the way, it looks to be a clear run to 1.0.

While we wait for Battlestate to confirm exactly what its hardcore wipe entails, check out some of the best multiplayer games on PC right now. If you're also thinking of upgrading your setup soon, keep our best graphics card guide handy.

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