Escape from Tarkov has been around for a few years now, but the game just recently became hugely popular thanks to Twitch streamers like Dr DisRespect and Pestily. This increased attention on Escape from Tarkov is no doubt appreciated by studio Battlestate Games, but it's also come with some added scrutiny and criticism. In particular, an interview that an Escape from Tarkov developer gave in 2016 is coming under fire, thanks to a controversial statement about women not being able to handle the stress of war.
In 2016, WCCFTech interviewed an Escape from Tarkov developer, and asked them about the game's lack of female playable characters. The developer said that Battlestate Games considered female characters for Escape from Tarkov, but came to the conclusion that "women are not allowed to be in the war." The interviewer then brought up how women are no longer kept out of the military, to which the Escape from Tarkov developer replied:
"I can agree with you and we discussed it for a very long time, but we came to the conclusion that women can't handle that amount of stress. There's only place for hardened men in this place." Unsurprisingly, these comments have been getting widely criticized on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Following this, Battlestate Games issued a statement about the interview. The studio pointed out that the article was three years old, and that the answers did not represent Battlestate Games as a whole, just the opinion of one employee. The studio added that it respects "women in wars and military women." It also claimed that the "employee was reprimanded and properly instructed," though it's unclear if that happened at the time of the interview or now.
With Escape from Tarkov still in beta, it's possible that female characters may be added by the time it hits its full release. However, fans shouldn't expect that, and nothing along those lines has been announced. Regardless of this controversy, though, it seems Escape from Tarkov is only increasing in popularity, and as long as major Twitch streamers continue to stream footage of the game, its popularity should only grow from here.
Escape from Tarkov is out now in beta for PC.
Source: WCCFTech