Escape from Tarkov realistic aiming changes don't land well with fans

Battlestate Games has previewed upcoming changes to the aiming mechanics in Escape from Tarkov – one of the most well-known extraction shooters, now more than a decade old. Nikita Buyanov posted a video on social media running over a minute long, directly comparing the current and reworked aiming systems.

The community reaction has been mostly negative – especially from streamers who have spent years broadcasting Escape from Tarkov and know its mechanics inside out.

In his post, Buyanov commented on the changes:

"always wanted to have this approach to aiming in EFT. cause right now it's unrealistic and linear. We will refine it more and test it first in ETS."

ETS stands for Early Test Server – a testing platform where players can try out potential changes before they reach the main version of the game.

Despite the push for realism, the updated mechanic drew skepticism even from people with real-world firearms experience. Streamer Airwingmarine wrote:

"But legit, this looks nothing like what we do IRL. And high end shooters with lots of reps (PMCs) were actually pretty close to what we had in Tarkov. Maybe not for LPVOs and scopes, but for red dots and holos. That weird set animation look super unnatural to me."

LVNDMARK, one of the most popular Escape from Tarkov streamers, added:

"Realism =\= fun in a video game nor do I think this is even realistic. You guys should be taking away a lot of the mechanics that were added to make this game feel more clunky rather than adding more. Just my 2 cents."

Some players in the comments went as far as saying they'd uninstall the game, arguing that Battlestate Games seems intent on making it as unenjoyable as possible.

A few hours later, Buyanov responded to the wave of criticism:

"guys, understood and got all of the feedback related WIP changes to aiming. Take it easy, there will be another iteration and there will be ETS test first. If you still will not like it – than I will double down and add it ingame asap! I'm kidding. Just let it be seen and tested first with the new changes to balance it out. Hopefully it will add more immersion and you will like it. Don't worry, it's being done by single teammember and me."

Battlestate Games has a reputation for experimenting with its design, and plenty of what gets announced never makes it into the final version of Escape from Tarkov.