Can You Play Escape from Tarkov on Consoles? PS4, PS5, and Xbox Explained

Escape From Tarkov is one of the biggest games on Twitch and many people are wondering what platforms they can play the game on. While the PC crowd has been enjoying the game’s beta for a few years at this point, the full release of Escape From Tarkov is still not out. So far, Escape From Tarkov is only available on PC, but that doesn’t mean that console players are completely out of luck if they’re interested in this hardcore extraction shooter. The Escape From Tarkov developers have discussed console ports and the full PC release in the past, so here’s everything you need to know about the console version of Escape From Tarkov.

Is Escape From Tarkov Coming to Consoles?

Escape From Tarkov is only available on PC right now. Since it’s in beta, the game isn’t even available on popular storefronts like Steam or the Epic Games Store yet. Instead, it uses its own unique launcher. Since the game is still not fully released on PC, console ports aren’t a huge priority for developer Battlestate Games at the moment.

However, Battlestate Games has stated in past interviews that console versions of Escape From Tarkov are being considered for platforms like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Those likely won’t be released before Escape From Tarkov sees a full 1.0 release on PC — if at all — though.

The main difficulty with developing a console version of Escape From Tarkov is the game’s complexity. It’s a hardcore extraction shooter where one bullet from a player across the map can result in hours of lost progress, not to mention lost weapons and loot. It’s the kind of game that requires precise shots, the sort of game that basically needs a mouse and not a controller. Not only that, but there are an insane number of inputs in Escape From Tarkov that pretty much require the use of a keyboard. It’d be hard to map everything to a controller with the limited number of buttons available.

While a console port of Escape From Tarkov is not likely anytime soon, there are other similar titles available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles that players can enjoy right now. Most notably, Call of Duty Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode is basically a watered-down version of Tarkov built for the casual console audience. It’s a ton of fun, and while it may not feature the hardcore gear progression from Tarkov, it still includes quests and plenty of reasons to keep playing.

Escape From Tarkov is available now on PC.