Escape from Tarkov is coming to Steam, and players who bought the game from Battlestate Games are asking if they must pay again.
The sad part in all of this is that eventually, you will have to buy a Steam copy to run the game through that platform, even if an older purchase exists. Owning a higher edition of Battlestate Games will not remove the need to own a Steam copy, but account linking lets Steam launch your existing higher-tier profile.
Linking a Battlestate account to a Steam profile is the key step. Once a Battlestate account that already holds an active edition is linked, Steam will probably recognize that account when you launch Escape from Tarkov from its client. That means a cheaper Steam purchase can still unlock the higher edition you already own.
Can you link your existing account and launch throush Steam?
Well, we’ll have to wait and see if BSG will ever allow players to link their accounts and maybe allow Steam to recognize that you own a copy of Tarkov somehow. But, that hasn’t been an option so far for any other game, as per my personal knowledge, so I think that the only way to make this work is probably buying a cheaper Escape From Tarkov version in order your migration to work correctly. But it’s still scary, because what if something else happens if we do that?
Now, I wouldn’t personally do this and use BSG’s official launcher, unless the developers decide to find a way and allow everyone who owns the game to use the Steam launcher without throwing a penny. So the answer is… patience. I am 100% confident that Nikita and the boys and girls behind BSG have something in the works. I also consider BSG as my kind of people, so I am 100% confident that there will be some workaround for those who want to swap through Steam. However… we’ll have to wait and see…
Since the game supports linking options, you might not need to repurchase it fully, or maybe we can pay something for the service without buying a cheaper version of the game, who knows…
Share your plans in the comments or reach out on X and Bluesky.
