Summary
Developer Battlestate Games gives players an update regarding BattlEye and how it deals with cheaters inEscape from Tarkov. The developer says that over 11,000 cheaters have been banned fromEscape from Tarkovin just over two weeks.
Escape from Tarkovis one of the best known and most popular entries in the rapidly expanding “extraction shooter” genre. The gamecasts players as scavengers and armed operators infiltrating the hostile, lawless city of Tarkov. There they must contend with both NPC enemies and hostile players, escaping the zone with as much loot as they can manage to secure.Escape from Tarkov’s focus on realismand high-stakes gameplay gives the game a brutal edge that is core to its appeal. However, that same competitiveness has made it very attractive to players willing to cheat, hack, and play dirty.
Battlestate Games isn’t laying down on the job, though. Its latest round of bans on discovered cheaters has ensnared more than 11,000 players, according to a post on the officialEscape from TarkovTwitter account. The announcement itself said that the list and bans were issued “with the help of BattlEye anti-cheat.” BattlEye is an anti-cheat service provider that works withEscape from Tarkov’s and is part ofthe suites of anti-cheat measures in games likeRainbow 6 SiegeandPUBG.
The latest wave ofEscape from Tarkovbans covers the period from May 20, 2025 to Jun 07, 2025. Like other ban waves, the update also linked to a spreadsheet containing all the users banned for cheating. Containing only usernames, however, the spreadsheet was light on specifics, and didn’t give information about what cheats were detected or if Battlestate had found countermeasures to them. This vagueness has led some critics to decrythe sharing ofEscape from Tarkovban listsas “stunts” meant to mollify angry players rather than make the game more secure.
Highly competitive games likeEscape from Tarkovare extremely attractive targets for cheaters and those developing them.Tarkovin particular has high stakes, where players that are killed lose what they carried into the zone. Such devastating setbacks can be even more demoralizing when they come as a result of another player cheating and gaining an unfair advantage, leading players to quit or turn against the game completely. Even the mere perception of an online game likeEscape from Tarkovhaving a “cheating problem” can damage its ability to attract new players or retain existing ones. Whether or not Battlestate Games' efforts are successful or a stunt, it’ll be critical to its2024 plans forEscape from Tarkov, and its recently launchedEscape from Tarkov: Arenaspin-off mode, to further clamp down on cheating.
