
After eight years in development, Escape From Tarkov has officially launched, but the game still has a few surprises in store for players.
Nikita Buyanov, the head of Battlestate Games, started the weekend with a special offer for the community, which turned out to be a playful joke on players.
High-Tier Loot Teased For A Special Promo

Last Sunday, Escape from Tarkov players were surprised to see a post from Battlestate Games’ Nikita Buyanov on X (formerly Twitter). He hinted at a special promotion with a picture of some very valuable and hard-to-find in-game items.
[…] Nikita Buyanov decided to kick off the weekend by giving the community a special bundle […]
Okay, so picture this: super rugged phone cases, a really high-end helmet like the Altyn, night vision tech, and a ton of Bitcoin… naturally, when I heard about this surprise deal popping up, I had to check it out! It just grabbed my attention immediately.
Shortly after hinting at something mysterious, Buyanov admitted it was all a clever joke. He shared that the code he’d mentioned was actually labeled “PAY2WIN,” which led everyone to believe something was amiss.
You can check the thread right below:
When players finally used the code, they didn’t get the promised Altyn helmet or Bitcoins. Instead, they received a disappointing collection of items – a toy gun, twelve shotgun shells, and a packet of Croutons – widely considered one of the worst item combinations ever seen in Tarkov.
The full bundle list, which provides more comedic value than actual combat utility, included:
- 12x DualSabot
- Fuze
- GP coin
- Croutons
- TK FAST MT (helmet)
- T-Bag
- TOZ-106 (bolt-action shotgun)
- Blicky (toy gun)
Even though the joke involved no helpful items, most players enjoyed it. They saw it as a funny nod to the common complaint that Escape From Tarkov favors players who spend money. Ultimately, it was a lighthearted way of saying that skill is still the most important thing in Tarkov, isn’t it?
Escape From Tarkov’s complete 1.0 version launched on PC (through Steam) on November 15th, and it looks like more downloadable content and updates are already planned.
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2025-12-08 21:09