November 18, 2015--Battlestate Games studio disclosed the first details and screen shots of Escape from Tarkov, the hardcore online game set in a Russian setting. http://www.escapefromtarkov.com/

Events take place in the fictitious Norvinsk oblast (province), a special economic zone created as a transitional area between Russia and Europe. Great business conditions for big international companies attracted not only law-abiding firms, but corporations with shady dealings. Two years ago, Tarkov, the biggest city in the province, became a scene for a scandal caused by a transatlantic company. Six months later a political struggle escalated into armed conflict between UN peacemakers, the Russian military and two private military companies. Borders of the province were closed and those who ended up in the middle of a local war were separated from the outer world.

Today Norvinsk oblast has become a scene for active agents of two private military companies hired by two sides of the conflict. USEC works for the scandalous international corporation Terra Group and provides local skirmishes in order to obstruct investigation of the company's activity by local authorities. Moreover, according to intelligence, USEC affords protection for the illegal practices of a foreign company. BEAR, which, on hearsay, was created by the direct order of Russian government, and operates as part of the official Norvinsk authorities and searches for any clues of illicit activity of the Terra Group.

With every new day the situation in Norvinsk oblast becomes stranger and more complicated. Panic reigns as the city is plunged into armed conflict: citizens flee while those who stay begin to scavenge whatever they can. Taking the new realities as a matter of course and huddling up into well-armed gangs, scavs start their own battle for territories. Today, Tarkov is divided by unseen borders set by bandit groups. Up-for-anything, they won't stop short at killing innocents or waging a war against two private military companies.

Players will enter the battlefield as surviving ex-mercenaries. After choosing one's side, USEC or BEAR, the protagonist starts off in the middle of the city. Tarkov is blocked by UN forces and Russian military, supply lines are cut, communications are lost – in these realities everyone decides by himself or herself, how to survive and get out of city.

Registration for closed beta testing of Escape from Tarkov is open on the official website: http://www.escapefromtarkov.com/