Escape from Tarkov Details Upcoming Hardcore Wipe

Extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov detailed an upcoming Hardcore Wipe, which is planned for launch in July 2025, simultaneously with the game’s Version 1.0, following an eight-year-long closed beta period.

All the key points of the upcoming Hardcore Wipe were revealed via posts on the game’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on July 1, July 2 and July 4, 2025.

Following the Hardcore Wipe, the flea market will be disabled completely, cutting off the option for player-to-player trading. Due to increased item requirements for Hideout zones, hideout module upgrade and usage demand will require more resources after the Hardcore Wipe.

Also, Hideout zones will no longer require Found in Raid (FiR) items -a type of in-game objects obtainable during a raid from a bot or container that can be successfully extracted and becomes eligible for quests and Flea Market sales.

Furthermore, several high-tier rounds will be removed from the craft list, while the remaining recipes will cost more resources and yield less ammo. Limited Hideout ammo crafts will come along with a reduced spawn chance of rare loot, making expensive and unique items (lab cards, valuables, high-tier weapons, and armor) spawn far less often.

After July’s 2025 Hardcore Wipe, restricted location accessibility will change, with most locations no longer selectable directly from the lobby. Instead, players will have to reach them through in-world transitions inside other maps.

Besides that, due to the upcoming Wipe, ammunition, money, and some medicine will no longer be allowed to be stashed in the secure container. Furthermore, traders will stock far fewer weapons, armor, ammo, and meds with lower item selling price and increased purchase price.

After the Hardcore Wipe, each raid will guarantee a 100% appearance of a boss with his guards, regardless of the map or time of day. Previously, the chances of a boss spawn ranged from 2% to 50%, depending on the bosses, most of whom are tied to specific maps, while a few are roaming.

On top of that, XP rewards for killing enemies and dying will be reduced, slowing down leveling through pure aggression and further discouraging so-called “meat” runs, where players attempt to kill as many others and bots as possible. Pushing players toward deliberate tactics instead of pointless firefights, Escape from Tarkov will grant increased XP for surviving. This will make successful extraction the main source of XP as the Wipe happens.

As for the increased AI difficulty mentioned in the last tweet detailing the Wipe, no further explanation was given, leaving it open to interpretation as either improved AI behavior, stronger bots in terms of health and gear, or a combination of both.

As of the time of writing, Escape from Tarkov, developed by Battlestate Games for Windows PC, has over 1.3 million monthly active users and around 274,000 daily players, according to ActivePlayer. On top of that, as of July 2025, it has reached over 10 million registered players since its closed beta launch on July 27, 2017.

Escape from Tarkov incorporates three different modes: online PMC raids, scavenger raids titled Scav, and a temporary offline training mode without progression or loot gains. The game is set in the fictional Norvinsk region of northwestern Russia, in the midst of a war between two private military companies: United Security (USEC) and the Battle Encounter Assault Regiment (BEAR).