«An unknown disease has spread from The Lab and contaminated the whole Tarkov region. The infection level of each map is shown on the location selection screen.»
Infected civilians, lab technicians, PMCs and Black Division operatives roam the maps, attacking with their hands, knives and pistols.
A hit from the infected has a small chance to apply the Virus effect: hearing drops out for a moment and hydration falls. It is only removed by extraction or death.
Infected Tagilla with a scythe: in every raid on Infected Factory and Infected Lab; Interchange 12%, Night Factory 9%, Factory 6%.
New location Infected Factory: 20-minute raid, 4–6 players, extracts Gate 0 and Gate 3. It is Factory as it was before patch 0.15.
New location Infected Lab: 30-minute raid, 8–10 players, entry with a TerraGroup Labs access keycard, the lights are off, all doors are open. Extracts need an item: Parking (Car keys) and Sewage Conduit (Collector map).
Insured items are not returned from either new location.
A task line that forks between Skier and Therapist: each side has its own achievement and the Tarkov of the Dead poster.
Pumpkins with sweets can be found on all locations.
AI wear the Jack-o'-lantern tactical pumpkin helmet.
No Scav karma penalty for killing Scavs as a player Scav.
New main menu background. Since hotfix 1.3.0.1 it is kept for good for completing the event task line — it comes with the Shields Up! and Triumph of Science achievements.
Spooky trader portraits and Halloween lighting in the Hideout.
«The Halloween update: the in-game season switched to fall, the PvE Zone gained high-difficulty PMC bots, and skill progression was rebalanced. The Unity 6 transition planned for October moved to mid-November, in update 1.3.5.0.»
The Halloween 2026 event started; the in-game weather season switched to fall.
PvE: high-difficulty PMC bots that can spawn on high-level locations.
Skills: all skills level significantly faster in Seasonal mode, diminishing returns were rebalanced, and weapon skills now level at the same speed as the others.
Metabolism now levels by the amount of energy and hydration restored.
Expansions Hub: new Hideout customization sets Your Own Celestial Empire and Once Upon a Time in Tarkov.
Tripwires placed by players last longer.
Colliders of some Currency and Valuables items changed, making them easier to find and pick up in raid.
Fixed: Partisan's spawn chance in raids without bad-karma players; magazines not loading or unloading after a malfunction; field of view with some optics; PMC bots now always treat players as hostile; geometry on Icebreaker, Interchange and Shoreline.
30 October: fixed being unable to vault or move while prone in some areas, and container searches being interrupted.
3 November, hotfix 1.3.0.1: fewer kills needed in the tasks to eliminate infected under gas — First Results from 25 to 15, The Final Push from 30 to 15; the Halloween menu background was added to the rewards of the Shields Up! and Triumph of Science achievements.
3 November, fixed: lighting on Infected Factory, a scientist's body in Infected Lab that could not be searched, the low-resolution and missing animation of the main menu background.
«A squad of unidentified operatives has infiltrated the TerraGroup underground complex. They’re well-armed and even better trained. Their actions seem almost rehearsed. Rumor has it that they’re led by one of the Arena champions. Take part in the investigation to uncover what they’re looking for in the Lab.»
Therapist sells the TerraGroup Labs access keycard at LL2.
20 October (patch 1.2.5.0): Scourge and his guards were weakened — less health, a narrower field of view, more spread at range, slower enemy detection. Completing the whole task line grants the “Scourging” achievement.
«The October update: Customs got reworked extracts and locks, the PvE Zone gained Prestige, and PMC bots in PvE behave differently. The patch also launched the EXFIL Brothers programme for newcomers and their experienced friends.»
Customs: PMC and Scav extracts reworked, some old ones removed; new ZB-1013 and security post keys; locked containers now always hold loot.
Interchange: new loot spots; cash registers in the standalone ULTRA stores no longer need keys (Goshan, IDEA and OLI still do).
PvE: six Prestige levels, the first with lighter requirements; Prestige resets only the PvE Zone character.
PvE: PMC bots team up more often, attack Scavs and bosses more often, and their gear depends on their level; they now appear in the Labyrinth.
EXFIL Brothers programme: rewards for a newcomer and an experienced player who raid together.
«Word spread quickly among the Scavs about a convoy of fighters in black gear that came under mortar fire. According to those who made it to the spot, the attackers got away with two intercepted vehicles packed to the roof with all kinds of documents. The papers are said to be connected to TerraGroup. Some of them were sold to traders in exchange for supplies that, in the Scavs' own words, are "worth more than any money". Soon afterwards PMC operatives began showing up at the traders' bases: mercenaries are reportedly being offered urgent jobs to find and return the intercepted TerraGroup documents. Meanwhile, things around Lighthouse have not calmed down. Firefights between PMC groups and Scavs go on as fiercely as before. Some link it to a temporary increase in airdrops over this part of the coast — too much cargo passes through the area to go unnoticed.»
Vastly increased frequency of airdrops with high-value contents on Lighthouse.
Battle Pass documents can be earned by completing operational tasks.
«The second major update of the season. Lighthouse was rebuilt so that the risk on the map depends on the player's decisions rather than on chance: the Rogues left the water treatment plant for the mountain chalets, the task chain that unlocks Lightkeeper was written anew, and Icebreaker is now reached from Shoreline and Lighthouse. A week later, on 15 September, the patch gained Leagues — weekly leaderboards for seasonal characters.»
Rogues moved from the water treatment plant to the mountain chalets; the plant no longer has stationary weapons or landmines.
The open areas along the main road were reworked with more cover and extra routes. Underground passages in the mountains now shorten the way to the southern extracts.
A transit to Icebreaker was added on Lighthouse: the hovercraft waits at the pier near the water cottages.
The BTR now patrols the map — its route has several variants and covers the whole location.
The Marked Room was moved off Lightkeeper's peninsula. Loot distribution was reworked, and Rogue stashes appeared across the map.
The task chain that unlocks Lightkeeper was completely reworked — it is now the “To the Light” chain. To get its first task you must open Lighthouse through the “Tour” storyline, have Loyalty Level 3 with every trader except Fence and Ref, have at least 2.0 reputation with Fence, and ask Mechanic about working with Lightkeeper.
Some of Lightkeeper's tasks were reworked; for some of them he now rewards a rare key to a loot room on the peninsula.
Icebreaker can now be reached from Shoreline and Lighthouse. It no longer costs roubles — it takes a single-use “Sudak-tudak” marine repair kit, earned from Ragman's task “Pay the Fare!”.
The temporary “Shifting Balance” event began, with a task chain about the balance of power on Lighthouse.
The “Rave” Hideout customization set became available.
On 15 September (build 1.1.5.0.47426) Leagues were added for seasonal characters: groups of 50 players of the same rank, placed by the experience earned during the week; the top 25 rank up, 15 stay and 10 are demoted.
«The biggest update since the 1.0 release: seasons are here. A seasonal character lives on separate servers and resets every 4–6 months, season rules are set by modifiers, and the free Battle Pass progresses across every mode. Alongside it: reworked side-task distribution, noticeably higher trader prices and a cheaper early hideout.»
Seasons and a seasonal character on separate servers were added.
The first season, KORD BREACH, began, with its own side-task chain and seasonal rewards.
A free Battle Pass was added: progress is shared between PvP Season, PvP and PvE.
The “Kappa Path” achievement is no longer granted — “Collector” now gives “Dawn of a New Era”.
Side tasks are now tied to trader loyalty levels and handed out in sets of 2–4.
Trader prices went up by about 25% on average, and what they pay the player dropped by 20%.
The flea market fee went up from 3% to 5%.
Money turnover with a trader was removed from the loyalty level requirements.
Building hideout zones of levels 1–3 was made easier, and weapon assembly no longer needs the Workbench.
Jaeger insurance was added — the fastest and the most expensive.
The QBZ-191, Howa Type-20, HK 416A5 RAL-8000 and the 5.8x42 mm caliber were added.
Some tasks can now be done with a group, and a spectator camera after death was added.
«Something big is clearly brewing in Tarkov, and the situation around the region has become increasingly unstable. Scav Bosses armed themselves heavily and are now firmly entrenched in their territories. To prevent further escalation, trophies looted from them have been banned from the Flea Market. At the same time, rumors suggest that now might be the right time to start stockpiling that kind of gear. On top of that, they say that night raids have become quite a lot riskier…»
All Bosses, except for Cultists and Partisan, have a 100% spawn chance.
Unique weapons and gear from Bosses cannot be sold on the flea market.
Scavs and Bosses carry special weapon loadouts featuring high-capacity drum magazines.
From 31 July traders offer new barters for dogtags and for unique Boss weapons and gear.
Glukhar carries a Magnum Research Desert Eagle L6 .50 AE pistol (WTS) loaded with .50 AE FMJ Bull.
«Skier has found a hole in the Lab's security and intends to strip the facility bare. Information that valuable could not stay secret for long, and a great many people are now interested in the underground complex — each for their own reasons. Someone, however, is a step ahead: unknown operatives in black have already made it inside. What they are looking for is unclear, but their presence is a serious threat.»
The Lab went dark: the lights cut out a few minutes after the raid starts and cannot be turned back on
The Wedge and Black Division appear on the Lab.
The Wedge and his followers carry the Model 8230 CS gas grenade.
The Wedge carries the TerraGroup Labs security armoury storeroom key (Blackout) in his pockets; the same key can be found on his followers and on Black Division fighters.
Only the “Parking” and “Hangar” extracts are available, and activating them requires the system administrator's office key.
Transit out of the Lab is unavailable, unlike the entrances to it.
Raid time was cut to 25 minutes.
Every keypad can be opened with a 4-digit code found in the system administrator's office. The code changes every raid.
The TerraGroup Labs access keycard can be bought from Therapist LL3 and Ref LL3, and bartered from Mechanic LL2 for 1x Bulbex cable cutter + 1x KSHS pipe wrench.
«Summer has come to Tarkov, and things are already heating up. Emboldened by the success of the new Arena season, Ref is pushing to take over new venues for his fights. His people have been spotted around Shoreline, Customs and even inside the reserve. Jaeger has no intention of putting up with it and wants to push back.»
«How did a Paradigm Shipping icebreaker end up locked inside the Tarkov blockade? What happened to its crew? Who is behind it? All of that is for you to find out by finishing a new story chapter on an expedition built around exploration and PvE. And if answers alone are not enough for you — the haul will be worth it too.»
«Unusual Rogue activity has been noticed along the shore. They used to barely leave their camp at the water treatment plant; now they appear to be running a full-scale reconnaissance operation. Peacekeeper is worried by this turn of events and wants to find out what they are looking for.»
«Reshala's men stole supplies from the RosReserve warehouses, and Glukhar has no intention of letting it slide. His squad has arrived on Customs for a punitive raid, and a major gang conflict has broken out on the map. Ordinary Scavs are afraid to get involved and would rather stay out of sight until things quiet down.»
Reshala appears in every Customs raid.
Glukhar moved from Reserve to Customs and now appears in every Customs raid.
Reshala's and Glukhar's followers appear all over the map and fight each other.
Regular Scavs do not spawn on Customs at all; Player Scavs are limited to 3 per Customs raid.
«Ref needs Factory for his fights — and any means will do to get it. A cleanup crew led by Killa and Tagilla is already on site and intends to get rid of everyone spoiling the show.»
Killa and Tagilla spawn on Factory (day) in every raid.
A new enemy type, the “cleanup crew”, was added. They turn up in groups of 3–4 in every Factory (day) raid in place of ordinary Scavs.
Player Scavs and Scav bots cannot spawn on Factory (day)
A new enemy type was added — Raiders. They turn up in groups of 3–4 on Customs, Interchange, Lighthouse, Shoreline and Woods.
Raiders are event bots that appear in groups of 3–4 on the maps listed above. You can recognise them by their Atomic Defense “CQCM” ballistic masks of various kinds. They also carry assorted weapons and gear from Escape from Tarkov: Arena.
The “smugglers” enemy type is back. They can be found in groups of 3–4 on Customs, Woods, Shoreline, Interchange, Lighthouse, Streets of Tarkov and Ground Zero (level 21+).
A bundle appeared on Steam containing the standard edition of Escape from Tarkov and Escape from Duckov. On top of that, on 16 February, for Chinese New Year, every player receives a special gift through the Battlestate Games account centre.
Killa and Tagilla were added to Escape from Duckov as bosses, along with a new location — Laboratory 37
Ded Moroz appears on every map except the Lab and the Labyrinth, hands out items and carries a New Year sack.
The New Year tree module is available in the hideout
New Year trees appeared on the maps. Presents lie under them, and baubles can be found on the branches.
Killa wears the Maska-1SCh helmet (New Year) and the 6B13 M modified body armour (New Year)
The maps are decorated with New Year lights. Some posters and billboards were swapped for ones advertising holiday discounts and gifts.
Tasks added:
Missing in Action
Clearing the Way
Kolotun
Cold Start
Knuckle Sandwich
Come by the Fire
Self-Employed
Don't Fall Asleep, You'll Freeze!
Skiing with Skier
A Small Celebration
Causes hand tremors
Reduces Endurance (-5)
Reduces energy recovery (-0.1/s)
Reduces hydration recovery (-0.1/s)
Reduces maximum stamina (-20)
Reduces stamina recovery rate (-1/s)
Lowers body temperature (-0.1 °C/s, down to 28 °C)
Deals periodic damage to limbs and head until their health drops to 1
Beanie
Bomber beanie
Ded Moroz hat
Domontovich ushanka hat
Extreme cold weather face mask
Jack Pyke Hunting LLCS boonie hat
Kotton beanie
New Year ushanka hat
Pompon hat
Santa hat
Ski hat with holes for eyes
SSh-68 steel helmet (Olive Drab)
Tactical fleece beanie (Tan)
Ushanka ear flap hat
UX PRO beanie
The stand-off between Skier and Prapor that started with the tasks “Don't Fall Asleep, You'll Freeze!” and “Give the Guy a Ski Track” ended in Skier's victory.
The Shadow of Tagilla roams the map with a labrys and a new welding mask. He is guarded by bots whose names are written in Greek letters, and sometimes by his “brother” Vengeful Killa as well
Every boss except the Cultists can be found on their own map with a 100% spawn chance. (The Goons on Lighthouse, Kollontay on Streets of Tarkov and so on.)
Every boss except the Cultists can be found on their own map with a 100% spawn chance. (The Goons on Lighthouse, Kollontay on Streets of Tarkov and so on.)
How far the infection has spread on each map can be tracked at [https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/halloween escapefromtarkov.com/halloween].
Infected PMCs and civilians wander around, attacking with bare hands, melee weapons and sometimes pistols.
Getting too close and taking a hit applies a viral effect that briefly deafens you and drains hydration.
The effect only clears when you extract or die.
Tagilla is infected too and roams every map with an old hand scythe.
For the duration of the event Scavs are friendly to players unless attacked.
The TerraGroup Labs access keycard is not required to enter the Lab for the duration of the event.
A new area called the “Isolation ward” was added to the Lab, next to the quarantine zone (G11).
Player Scavs can befriend the infected (they will not attack) by drinking 2 bottles of any alcohol: Tarkovskaya vodka, Dan Jackiel whiskey or Fierce Hatchling moonshine.
Customs, Woods, Shoreline and Reserve can come under mortar fire. When the second barrage begins, a special airdrop appears carrying the quest item “Radar station spare parts”.
Bosses can only be found on their home maps — the Goons have a 100% spawn chance on Lighthouse, Tagilla escorts Killa, and the Cultists have a 100% chance on Customs, Woods, Shoreline and Ground Zero (level 21+).
A new faction, “Morana's henchmen”, on Ground Zero, Customs, Woods, Shoreline, Interchange, Reserve, Lighthouse and Streets of Tarkov.
The bonfire summoning ritual — Leshy / Spirit of Spring
Three bonfires per raid appear in various spots on Ground Zero, Customs, Woods, Shoreline, Interchange, Reserve, Lighthouse and Streets of Tarkov.
To light a bonfire you have to hit it four times with tracer rounds from no more than 20 metres.
Standing near a lit bonfire grants the following buffs:
+3 to the Endurance skill
+3 to the Strength skill
+3 to the Vitality skill
+3 to the Immunity skill
+300% stamina recovery rate
Light all three bonfires within 60 seconds and you will hear birdsong, and a neutral, invulnerable Leshy / Spirit of Spring appears and hands out items. He will defend himself if harmed.
Bosses can only be found on their home maps (the Goons on Lighthouse, for instance) with a 100% chance, and the Cultists have a 100% chance on Woods and Shoreline.
The Cultist ritual takes place on every map except Factory and the Lab.
Find and kill the wandering Zryachiy and every extract but one is locked, that one gets a longer timer, night falls on the map, and a ritual begins, run by six priests of the ritual cult. It lasts 6 minutes 30 seconds.
The ritual site is marked by a ritual circle and a blue beam of light going up into the sky. There are several possible sites.
Killing every priest of the ritual cult stops the ritual.
Once the ritual completes, Vengeful Zryachiy appears with a greatly increased health pool and starts hunting players.
Zryachiy drops a bottle of Tarkovskaya vodka or Fierce Hatchling moonshine to players who approach him.
Killing Zryachiy or Vengeful Zryachiy will not decode your Digital secure DSP radio transmitter if you carry one.
All weapons jam near Vengeful Zryachiy, except the PPSh-41 submachine gun, the MTs-255-12 shotgun, revolvers, mounted weapons, underbarrel grenade launchers and frag grenades.
The Goons left their other spawns to meet Sanitar at the expensive cottages on Shoreline. That meeting has to be disrupted as part of the event task “On the trail of TerraGroup — Part 4”.
The “Obdolbos N” cocktail — a new injector, also needed for two tasks in the “On the trail of TerraGroup” line: Part 2 and Part 17
Knight, Big Pipe and Bird Eye can be found in every raid, on Factory (day) only
Reshala, Glukhar, Killa, Shturman, Sanitar and Tagilla spawn on Customs, Woods, Shoreline, Interchange and Reserve at specific real-world times, listed in the newspaper released with the event.
Glukhar: in the Scav base building (ZB-013 extract), with plenty of mounted weapons.
Killa + Tagilla: at the old gas station.
Sanitar: at the new gas station.
Shturman: on the ship repair yard grounds.
Reshala: around the dorms.
Glukhar: in the village to the north-east.
Killa + Tagilla: by the fenced cabin south-west of the sawmill.
Sanitar: by the antenna in the north-west (Scav bunker extract).
Shturman: at the sawmill.
Reshala: by the half-ruined village in the north.
Glukhar: at the port / on the pier.
Killa + Tagilla: in the west wing of the resort.
Sanitar: next to the cottages.
Shturman: the weather station.
Reshala: in the east wing of the resort.
Glukhar: around the central stores on the mall's ground floor.
Killa + Tagilla: around the central stores on the mall's first floor.
Sanitar: in the Goshan store.
Shturman: in the IDEA store.
Reshala: in the OLI store.
Glukhar: in the warehouse buildings marked with the letter “K”
Killa + Tagilla: in the repair building marked with the white knight
Sanitar: in the underground storage marked with the letter “D”
Shturman: in the repair building marked with the black knight
Reshala: in the barracks marked with the black bishop and the black pawn
This task shipped alongside the short film [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrSN4OpCSsk The Chronicles of Ryzhy. Season 2. Chapter 1: Arena], in which the character Ryzhy is wounded. He is the “important patient” the dialogue refers to.
This is the first community-goal task ever added to the game.
The goal was originally 1,000,000 bandages, but was changed to 10,000,000 shortly after the task appeared.
The goal was reached 8 days later, on 15 April 2023, and led to a new episode of the mini-series [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWfYmOf7NGQ The Chronicles of Ryzhy. Season 2. Chapter 2: No time to die].
The task “An important patient” is available to every player for the whole event.
For the duration of the event the task “Close quarters course” was added, rewarding the Red Rebel ice pick and the Miller Bros. Blades M-2 Tactical Sword.
Tagilla can be found on every map with his health raised to 1900, armed with a scythe, wearing a ghastly skull mask and with an increased spawn chance.
Cultists appear on every map except the Lab, with an increased spawn chance.
At the start of the raid your PMC gets a random negative status effect.
Trader portraits were restyled as zombies, vampires and other undead.
The unknown toxin is removed on death at no cost.
Weapons jam more often.
The Escape from Tarkov Halloween “Dooomed” counter triggers certain events when it reaches 666,666, and runs for 30 minutes before resetting.
Some food and drink no longer restores hydration and energy.
The chance and number of airdrops on open maps were increased significantly.
A huge buff to the Obdolbos cocktail injector — with a 5% chance of killing your character.
Every boss spawns on Customs.
All cash offers were removed from the traders (except Fence) — you can only barter with them now.
New dog tag barters were added at the traders.
For the duration of the event no TerraGroup Labs access keycard is needed to enter the Lab.
Every trader was unlocked and their goods heavily discounted.
Players get infinite stamina.
Every extract but one is locked.
At the start of the raid your PMC gets the “Unknown toxin” debuff, leaving you 8 minutes to live unless you find an antidote on a boss or in an airdrop.
The peaceful boss Ded Moroz, who hands out presents, can appear on every map except the Lab. He stays out of firefights but fights back if wounded. Killing him as a PMC or a Scav costs the player a significant Fence reputation penalty.