Escape From Tarkov is adding a battle pass

The first Escape From Tarkov season is about to start, and Battlestate Games has confirmed that, as previously hinted at by Studio Head Nikita Buyanov, it will feature a battle pass system. However, the extraction shooter’s developer has now calmed fears of potential microtransactions by confirming that the Kord Breach battle pass will be free, with everything in it available to be “earned simply through normal gameplay.”

Arriving alongside Escape From Tarkov patch 1.1 on August 3, following a slight delay from its originally planned release in late July, the Kord Breach season overhauls traditional Tarkov wipes with the creation of an opt-in league using special modifiers. It will start all players that choose to join with a fresh character. The new battle pass, however, “will be available across all game modes – seasonal, PvP, and PvE,” with its progression and rewards shared between the different ways to play the multiplayer game.

Battlestate explains that rewards are earned by turning in specific types of ‘TerraGroup documentation.” This is a new loot type found during raids that works much like task items, meaning that everyone is able to pick it up even if another player has already done so. You can find them while playing as a PMC or Scav, and regardless of your current game mode.

Different rewards will be tied to different documentation, and the various types are each associated with specific locations across the world. “For example, one type can be found on Streets of Tarkov and Customs, while another appears on Factory and The Lab.” Battlestate adds that there will also be a method to exchange one type of documentation for another if you’re struggling to find one, although it doesn’t indicate what the trade-in rate for this will be.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Kord Breach season itself, it introduces a range of global and personal modifiers for your character, and you’ll need to commit to these when you start. There are both positive and negative traits, with each bearing a points value that you’ll need to balance out – so for every helpful boon you take, you’ll have to accept a similar weight of downsides.

You could become an expert at walking through vegetation, run faster, level your bolt-action rifles skill at an accelerated rate, or gain painkiller effects from drinking juice, for example. However, to meet the points requirement in trade-off you might choose to be allergic to certain provisions or medication, or lock yourself out of player trading via the Flea Market.

Buyanov shared a first look at the Kord Breach modifiers in the image seen above, although cautioned that some values may change in the final version for balancing purposes. The global perks, meanwhile, ban pre-raid insurance, remove ‘found in raid’ status from hideout zones, reduce the availability of armor, make crafting stronger, hand out more raid experience, and drop Black Division operatives across the map.

Escape From Tarkov Season 1: Kord Breach begins on Monday August 3, alongside the release of patch 1.1. The update includes new weapons and gear, along with a wide range of quality-of-life improvements, such as a rework to the task system, rebalancing for hideout progression and insurance, an observer camera, and shared kill objectives across groups. You can also expect upgrades to game stability and anti-cheat measures.