Battlestate Games CEO splits company to develop sci-fi shooter Fragmentary Order
thevirtualgazette.com · post 59728 · 2026-07-01
Battlestate Games founder Nikita Buyanov has split his company in two. One side keeps building Escape from Tarkov, the punishing extraction shooter that defined a genre. The other side, a new studio called Rant Gaming, builds Fragmentary Order — a hardcore first-person shooter set across the solar system.
The risk is obvious. Two games.
Two studios. One man’s attention. Buyanov announced the project in Singapore on July 1.
The game moves his signature extraction mechanics into science fiction, a shift from the gritty, modern-day corridors of Tarkov. For the communities of extraction shooter fans across Asia who have spent years mastering Tarkov’s punishing realism, the promise is a chance to apply those skills somewhere new.
The solar system is the stage. The rules stay hardcore. But splitting development carries dangers. Escape from Tarkov is famously difficult, famously unfinished.
Its player base has tolerated slow updates and persistent bugs because no other game delivers the same brutal fidelity. Now those players watch Buyanov launch a second project. They watch him staff a second studio.
They watch the clock on their own game. Buyanov has stated that Rant Gaming allows Fragmentary Order to be developed separately from Tarkov.
He remains committed to the extraction shooter that started it all, he said. For families across the region who share gaming rigs or watch their favorite streamers, that dual commitment means the familiar brutality of Tarkov continues alongside a new, more expansive vision. Separate teams do not guarantee separate fates.
Resources still flow from one company. Key engineers still get pulled.
A crisis on one project can stall the other. Buyanov has not detailed how large Rant Gaming is, or how independent its budget and timeline truly are. He has not said whether Tarkov’s development pace will slow.
The genre itself is changing. Escape from Tarkov introduced the extraction mechanic to the wider gaming public. Now mainstream imitators crowd the space. Arc Raiders offers a more accessible take. Call of Duty is getting in on the act with Modern Warfare 4’s upcoming DMZ mode. Buyanov built a genre.
He now has to defend it while also building something new. Science fiction gives him room that modern-day Tarkov cannot.
Space stations. Asteroid bases. Zero-gravity firefights.
The shift opens up possibilities for mechanics that grounded realism forbids. But it also risks alienating the core audience.
Tarkov players love its specific, dirty authenticity. They love the weight of real-world weapons, the claustrophobia of abandoned factories. A sci-fi shooter could feel like a different game entirely.
Buyanov is not resting on his legacy. That is the line he has drawn. He is building a new studio, a new game, a new setting.
The question is whether he can run two hardcore projects at once without breaking either one. The players who have invested hundreds of hours into Tarkov’s punishing realism will be watching closely.
They do not have to wait for the full release to start engaging with this new world. The first pieces of Fragmentary Order are already visible. What happens next depends on whether Buyanov can keep both games alive, both teams focused, both communities satisfied.
That is a hard ask in any industry. In game development, it is a gamble.
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