It feels like an eternity since tactical FPS Escape From Tarkov released into closed alpha, and well, it kind of has been.
Battlestate Games' fairly controversial MMO-style FPS entered closed alpha way back in 2016, and now here we are, nine years later, many of us having long abandoned the prospect of an Escape From Tarkov 1.0 release. However, it's in a state of mild disbelief that I say: Battlestate Games has explicitly confirmed the game's 1.0 release is coming November 15, 2025.
The date not so subtly appears several times as code in the live-action trailer embedded below, which would make this more of a possible release date tease than straight-up confirmation, but then Battlestate Games studio head Nikita Buyanov confirmed the news on Bluesky, writing, "15.11.2025 1.0 release. Let's gooooooo!"
The impact Escape From Tarkov has had on the FPS space and, more so, as one of the early pioneers of the extraction shooter space, is extraordinary for a game whose yet to see a full 1.0 release.
The details of the 1.0 release are still under wraps, but I'm hoping it's more than just a big ol' glorified performance update with bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and performance fixes - although it damn well better have that stuff too. I want to see a whole meta shakeup, new quests, new weapons, all of that good stuff. But with the total mess that was the recent Hardcore wipe, I'll temper my expectations for now.
It's never a bad time to peruse our list of the best FPS games out there, even if Tarkov didn't make the cut.
