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The Escape from Tarkov hardcore wipe is dropping its boss spawn rate to 70%, Battlestate Games has announced. The move marks a big change to the hardcore wipe, which initially made Escape from Tarkov bosses guaranteed to spawn.
Since its closed beta debut in 2017, Battlestate Games’ hit extraction shooter has undergone several progression resets. However, none of these so-called “wipes” have been billed as being of the “hardcore” variety up until recently. The first-ever Escape from Tarkov hardcore wipe went live as part of the 0.16.8.0 patch, which rolled out on July 8, 2025. Fan reactions to the progression reset have been polarized, with not everyone enjoying the substantial difficulty spike stemming from the new update.
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A senior Battlestate Games official comments on the possibility of an Escape from Tarkov console port with a rather cheeky remark.
Looking to alleviate some of these concerns, Battlestate Games opted to revisit Escape from Tarkov‘s hardcore wipe boss spawn rate, reducing it from 100% to 70%. The change, announced on July 12, technically makes the hit extraction shooter more accessible, but whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends on one’s perspective.
Escape from Tarkov Players Split Over Boss Spawn Rate Change
By guaranteeing boss spawns, the initial version of the hardcore wipe made extractions more difficult for solo players. However, Escape from Tarkov veterans were able to use the 100% rate to their advantage, with their highly coordinated teams having an easy time of farming bosses for high-tier loot. By reducing the incidence of bosses by a whopping 30%, Battlestate Games essentially slowed down the progression curve of its extraction shooter.
Since the hardcore wipe, true to its name, wiped character progress, not everyone is thrilled with the fact that the developer has now made the process of obtaining high-tier loot even more grindy. These grievances were also echoed by some players who intended to farm bosses but didn’t get to do so prior to the change, leaving them at a disadvantage compared to those who made the most of the guaranteed boss spawns over the past several days.
In addition to the boss spawn chance decrease, Battlestate has added Escape from Tarkov‘s Woods map to the raid rotation on July 12, then followed up on that move by making all locations available for selection. The developer previously framed the ongoing hardcore wipe as the final set of major changes that will be implemented into the game prior to its long-awaited 1.0 launch. The 1.0 version of Escape from Tarkov is still without a concrete release date, although Battlestate has already committed to debuting it in the second half of 2025. Based on the developer’s previously shared roadmap, the 1.0 release might arrive circa September.
