Escape from Tarkov is Getting a New Matchmaking System

Battlestate Games has revealed that it’s testing a new matchmaking system as a major quality-of-life improvement in Escape from Tarkov – and EFT: Arena. This testing is taking place on the ETS server, which is an early-access test environment restricted to a specific user base.

It hasn’t been made clear when these changes will hit the wider audience, but they sound solid at first blush.

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Much Needed Changes

Escape from Tarkov’s matchmaking system has long been a thorn in the side of gamers worldwide. For instance, around an Escape from Tarkov wipe, which is the bi-annual global reset event, queues to get into a match can be dragged out monumentally, often hitting ten, fifteen, or more minutes to raid.

Many users have dealt with random disconnects and glitches during the matchmaking process over the years. One issue that surfaced this year was a problem with ‘Scav raids’, with players hitting never-ending loading screens during the matchmaking process.

In a post on social media, Battlestate Games revealed:

The main goal of the new system is to reduce the raid search time in Escape from Tarkov and matchmaking in EFT:Arena, as well as to reduce the number of errors and disconnects during matchmaking.

Beyond matchmaking, another concern for users is the amount of time it takes to load the map and loot pools and to connect with other players before finally entering a raid. This is one of the reasons why so many people moved to Escape from Tarkov’s PvE ecosystem, as loading into a PvE raid can take as little as 20 or 30 seconds all-in.

Do you welcome these matchmaking changes from Battlestate Games? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum or in the comments.

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