Is PMC permadeath being added to Escape From Tarkov?

In a recent Escape From Tarkov community podcast, the concept of PMC permadeath was brought up as a possibility for Tarkov’s future.

Should Tarkov fans have to worry about losing all of their character progress for walking in the wrong section of the map? Is PMC permadeath really a possibility in Escape From Tarkov?

Will Escape From Tarkov have PMC permadeath?

In a recent episode of the Escape From Tarkov community podcast, BattleState Games founder Nikita Buyanov talked about a possible mechanism that could see a player’s profile forced to reset all progress. Escape From Tarkov is already an unforgiving shooter that requires tons of knowledge. The permanent death of the player’s main character is something that the developers haven’t yet tried to introduce to the game.

Given the enormous time investment that it takes to progress in Escape From Tarkov, setting somebody back to square one is a daunting proposal. Luckily it’s not simply getting shot that would provoke this possibility. Instead, it would be restricted to radiation.

Radioactive contamination in Escape From Tarkov is a rare mechanic as is, but Nikita talked about the possibility of a lethal dose of radiation forcing a character to fully restart. It’s a striking idea, but it remains only a theoretical possibility that may not come to fruition.

Nikita has had plenty of ideas about possible additions to Escape From Tarkov that never saw the light of day and it’s possible this is the same. Tarkov certainly isn’t afraid to add punishing mechanics, but permadeath seems a bridge too far for the time being.

Dying in a raid can be punishing enough in Tarkov’s current state, costing millions of rubles and dozens of hours of progress with the wrong fight. PMC permadeath won’t be arriving in any patch in the near future, and fans can expect to hear about it well before its introduction.