Escape From Tarkov, a looter shooter that’s been under development for the last couple of years by the relatively small Battlestate Games, is topping Twitch thanks to a holiday event.
In case you missed the news, the latest Twitch zeitgeist is the intense looter shooter Escape From Tarkov. It has had a massive boost in publicity of late thanks to a Twitch event that offered players the opportunity to grab gear without even having to lock and load. Instead, the Twitch promotion provided in-game ger simply for tuning in to watch Escape From Tarkov streams. This relatively simple scenario prooved incredibly enticing because of the game’s central mechanic.
Epic Drops
Initially entering early testing back in mid 2018 this online FPS takes the battle royale genre and makes a few big changes. Players dropping into Escape from Tarkov for the first time will find a realistic looter shooter where everything revolves around raids. Gamers queuing up to compete with each other while playing a game of Russian roulette with permadeath. Overcoming foes can grant epic loot but any gear that gamers bring into Escape From Tarkov can be lost on death. This risk versus reward system makes for an addictive gameplay mechanic where players must balance the opportunity to hang in a firefight against the impact of losing any gear they already have.
After its initial kick-off, Escape from Tarkov saw an uptick of nearly 150,000 viewers on Twitch with major streamers like DrDisrespect, CohhCarnage featuring the title. To top it off, the resulting promotion has also raised a significant amount for charity, over AUD 33,000 in one sitting for Pestily. While we don’t have official confirmation of any figures from developer Battlestate Games, a quick glance at the Twitch numbers finds Escape From Tarkov viewings up as much as 200 percent.
While the team behind the title is facing some decidedly dicey questions with the increased media scrutiny, this type of Twitch promotion seems to show that effective Twitch promotions are about making fee things feel impactful without fundamentally breaking the game. By rewarding players, but equally being able to snatch back that easy win without warning the Escape From Tarkov promo made some impressive gains and might have managed to secure the future of this title. Be under no illusion that streaming is crucial for games now.