The End of the Era of Common Wipes? How New Matchmaking Rules Will Change Escape from Tarkov
Nikita Buyanov, CEO of Battlestate Games, has confirmed a change that will split the Escape from Tarkov player base into three separate camps. Alongside the familiar PvP/PvE divide, online queues will now separate folks running "seasonal" chars — those who get wiped — from players using "permanent" PMC accounts that keep progress indefinitely.
Reaction across the community is messy. Some players welcome the idea because it should keep fresh faces from getting steamrolled by long-time vets at the start of a season; others, including big streamers like LVNDMARK and Axel, are sounding the alarm. Their point is blunt: add ten maps, day/night rotations, and a split by char type, and you risk very long wait times and underfilled servers. I can see both sides — and I wouldn't bet on this being a smooth rollout.