Over the last couple of years, Escape From Tarkov players have been crippled by the in-game economy. Battlestate Games’ realistic shooter’s market is tied to the comings and goings of the real world economy, and as trading fluctuates, so does Tarkov’s marketplace. And, with the ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the value of Escape From Tarkov’s core currency – the rouble – has plummeted.
With the rest of the western world seemingly putting Russia under tough sanctions and removing the country’s banks from the SWIFT payment service, the value of the rouble has dropped by 29% in recent days. As a result, gearing up and buying additional currency in Escape From Tarkov is becoming pretty tough indeed.
When the last wipe took place, a single dollar would set you back around 135₽. Today, Peacekeeper’s bureau de change is looking for 147₽. In short, roubles have lost their value – and, like the previous in-game Bitcoin and fuel crises – players are looking to take advantage while they can.
If you take a quick look at the flea market, you’ll see pages upon pages of listings of gear for dollars and euros, rather than roubles. In order to get better returns on their loot, players are looking to sell their found in raid gear for anything other than the Russian currency. The price of SSDs in roubles, for example, has fallen by 8.91% in the last week, from 34,155₽ to 31,111₽. If you sell them to Peacekeeper for $311, though, you’ll essentially be walking away with the equivalent of 42,296₽ – a much higher return.
The same goes for weapons, which have almost all exclusively dropped in value over the last week. For those that can’t be sold directly to Peacekeeper or Skier – the only two traders who pay out in dollars or euros – players are trying their luck on the flea market, listing typically eastern weapons for anything other than roubles. What that’s done is devalue their price – and guns like the AKS-74UB and the AK-74M have dropped by 37% and 21% respectively over the last week.
While the devaluation of the rouble is something that’ll hit new players hard, those with up and running Bitcoin farms should be able to reap the rewards. The value of Bitcoin has increased by 31% over the last week and it’s still rising. Whether that means we’ll see an increase in the cost of fuel to run these farms is yet to be seen.
The market fluctuations are something Tarkov players are used to – and experienced traders will find a way to make a profit somehow. But if you’re sat there waiting for Battlestate to take action – don’t hold your breath. The Russian developer has only ever stepped in to help with the Bitcoin crisis, and it’s unlikely it’ll happen again here.