Yet another bug is plaguing fans of Escape from Tarkov. This time, instead of finding problems within the game itself, the Tarkov launcher displays an error downloading essential data. Since this error pops up from the Battlestate Games launcher, it completely prevents players from joining the game. What does this error mean, and how can you fix it? Here’s what we know.
Escape from Tarkov | Error downloading essential data
The Escape from Tarkov error downloading essential data message tends to appear when the game fails to launch. It’s often accompanied by another error, the error receiving game session data. In both cases, the error is caused by communication issues between game servers and the local game client.
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Frustrating as this error may be, the news isn’t so bad. The game can’t download essential data because there is a problem communicating with the servers. In nearly every instance, this error is caused by server outages. The solution is to simply wait for servers to come back online before attempting to relaunch the game.
Any time your copy of Escape from Tarkov pops an error downloading essential data, it’s worth checking to make sure the game servers are actually up and functioning. This error can appear alongside any server outages, whether they’re planned or otherwise. For that matter, most of the game’s communication errors are related to server downtime. If Tarkov doesn’t work, and especially if it won’t launch, you can basically rest assured that the servers are down.
The Escape from Tarkov error downloading essential data is just another one of the game’s many frustrating problems. Considering that Tarkov is still in its beta stage, issues like this are to be expected. If there’s an error downloading essential data, you’ll have to wait until servers come back online before trying to get back into the game.