Escape From Tarkov is adding ready stances, as Battlestate pushes for even more immersion

Escape From Tarkov felt special because it embraced a more punishing realism at a time where the predominant trend in FPS games was towards faster, more arcade-like action. More recently, we've seen the likes of Gray Zone Warfare and Road to Vostok lean in that direction, yet Battlestate Games continues to push its own design forward. In a new developer diary, Tarkov Technical 3D Animator Mikhail Ivanov fields community questions, revealing one much-requested addition in the works as he talks about how the team is elevating that sense of realism even higher.

A feature that's long been absent from Escape From Tarkov - one it seemed might be introduced several years ago, but never materialized - is CQB gun stances. Specifically, this refers to the ability to shift between High Ready, where your weapon is raised and held close so you're prepared to fire instantly, and Low Ready, where you hold the gun with a proper grip but keep it more relaxed to conserve your stamina and avoid muscle fatigue, at the cost of a delayed reaction should a response be needed.

What we have now in Tarkov is essentially a High Ready stance, but given that it's a shooter built around stretches of downtime, having the option to trade off some of your responsiveness to adopt a stamina-saving posture would be welcome. The feature is even found in Roblox tactical shooter TTK, which went viral this week, so I'm pleased to hear Ivanov confirm that it is indeed on the cards. "Yes, we're planning to add that in the future," he says. "It'll add immersion for players themselves, and make bots feel more human and believable."

As an animator, Ivanov naturally has plenty to say about how Tarkov's weapons' look and feel, and one question he fields is about updated animations and reworked modding for the AK platform, arguably the most iconic weapon set in the game. "The AK animations, as well as the modding overall, are already finished," he remarks. "You'll be able to nicely combine handguards and gas tube covers. You'll even be able to operate the weapon without a gas tube cover if you want. The trigger groups got a visual upgrade."

Unfortunately, Battlestate has run into some implementation issues, due to the huge number of AK presets in the game and a change to the weapon skeleton. "Implementing everything properly without negatively affecting any players is something we really need to work hard on," Ivanov explains, "But we believe we'll be able to get the Kalash into one of the major upcoming patches." He adds that other weapon models are also getting a full animation overhaul: "The Mosin rifle is next in line, we'll make it feel nicer."

Ivanov is also asked about mag loading animations. He says these are "heavily in development," but notes that it's a challenging process due to the sheer number of different magazines in Tarkov. "We've got tons of them in the game, and some of them have unusual shapes, like drum magazines or the P90 magazine, for example. That's the main challenge right now, fitting all of that together properly. We believe that this year we'll be able to roll out some beautiful loading animations for you."

Looking ahead, Battlestate has delivered an updated Escape From Tarkov roadmap for the coming months. July is set to kick off with a 'Blackout' event before the arrival of Tarkov Season 1. This will bring a task rework, group-shared kill objectives, rebalancing to hideout progression and the insurance system, and improved enemy AI. You can also expect some new weapons, gear, and PMC customization, along with additional assistance for beginners.

Moving into the third quarter of 2026, Battlestate is looking to implement ranked leagues, a Lighthouse rework, and those aforementioned mag loading animations. It's also considering a "simplified GPS system," new invite-a-friend incentives, trader reputation changes, containers with gear presets, and the ability to skip Prestige requirements "for a large in-game fee." Alongside that will be the move to Unity 6 and implementation of FSR 4.0.

In closing, Ivanov stresses that while realism remains fundamental to Tarkov, the team at Battlestate makes sure to incorporate "a bit of theatrical flair" to its animations, in pursuit of making weapons feel as satisfying as possible to use. I'm certainly eager to watch what Season 1 brings to Tarkov; it needs a bit of a shakeup to recapture the spark of those early days, and Battlestate's long list of changes might be just the thing.