Tarkov-like Marauders begins closed playtest next week, requires pre-order to participate

For those gamers who feel that Escape from Tarkov doesn’t have enough spaceship customization, the upcoming space piracy FPS Marauders should present a nice alternative. Marauders is ramping up playtesting as it prepares for an early access launch later in 2022, and it is inviting players for a closed alpha playtest which will run from May 4 to 9. A follow-up closed beta will take place down the line.

Marauders is currently only slated for a PC release, and interested players can already wishlist the game on Steam, or pre-order it through the game’s official site. Pre-ordering automatically gives players access to the May 4 closed alpha, as well as to the following closed beta. Currently, there doesn’t seem to be another way to sign up for a chance to participate. Gating playtest access behind a pre-order is a bit of an odd choice considering the negative discourse around pre-orders that followed some disastrous high-profile launches in recent memory.

Marauders aims to enter the rapidly growing space of high stakes extraction royale games, which for a very long time was dominated by just Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. Unlike those games, it features an extra layer of complexity in its spacecraft customization and ship-on-ship combat. Marauders players will engage in boarding actions as they destroy and raid each other in search of loot and supplies, which can then be used to upgrade their current ships or buy new ones.