Escape from Tarkov is a game that makes you feel amazing if you win, and awful if you lose. You’re likely to feel terrible again and again if you play it, but the thrill when everything goes right makes up for all of that. And while it’s hard to beat that feeling of pleasure, I imagine I’m not the only person who played Tarkov and felt the pain of its hardcore difficulty. Escape from Tarkov: Arena seems like a game that even these kinds of players can jump in and enjoy. Arena retains the original Tarkov’s hardcore shootouts while being a fast-paced and much more easily-digested team shooter.

What makes Arena special is that despite the different rules, the game as a whole still feels like Tarkov, including the gunplay. Between its minimal HUD, lack of respawning, and wealth of equipment presets to choose from, you can tell that the game is still Tarkov at its roots. I had the opportunity to try Arena out at Tokyo Game Show 2023. While it was only for one match, I was also able to hear from Sergei Drozdov, game designer at Arena developer Battlestate Games.

…

If you’d like to try it for yourself, Escape from Tarkov: Arena is scheduled for a closed beta test sometime before the end of the year.