Here’s how to get 1M free Rubles in Escape from Tarkov

Hardcore tactical survival game Escape from Tarkov has been a hit, both with streamers and players, since December 2019. But the game’s back-end infrastructure continues to fail. Things got so bad last weekend that the team at Battlestate Games is handing everyone 1 million Rubles — the in-game currency, not real-world cash — as compensation. Players have a few days to log in and claim it.

“We are sorry that you had to deal with unstable server performance this weekend,” the developers said in a series of tweet. “We want to assure you that we are working tirelessly to improve the server situation, although it is not always up to us to fix it. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Many players were thrilled by the news, since that much money will get you at least a few high-end items from the in-game storefront. But many more were less than optimistic about the state of the game.

“1 Million for this?” said one Twitter reply. “I lost like everything I had during those crashes. Getting disconnected during fights etc. 1 Mill is not enough for that.. but thanks anyways.”

The trouble stems from the high-stakes nature of Tarkov gameplay. Before entering a gameplay session with their main character, players gear up from their own personal stockpile of weapons and gear. If they die during that session, all their equipment can be looted by other players in the game. Things play out similarly if the game crashes. Even with in-fiction insurance, there’s no guarantee you’ll get your loot back when the game crashes.

Server and connectivity issues have plagued Tarkov since its release some years back. The recent update, applied in October 2019, was supposed to lay the groundwork for upgrading the infrastructure that supports the game. It seems that the team at Battlestate still has a lot of work to do to shore up the experience for players. Servers were taken down early this morning for another update, and patch notes are available via Twitter.

To get your 1 million Rubles, just log into the client and start the game. You’ll have a message waiting for you that will allow you to claim two half-million Ruble stacks of cash. Note that once you log into the game, you only have 48 hours to claim those Rubles before they’re no longer available.