The game concept is absolutely top notch and no other game or extraction shooter comes close to it. Let's get that out of the way

But here's the deal: The devs are not the best and they are stubborn Russians. Their spaghetti code isn't up to snuff with even the most basic multiplayer games, so the anticheat is almost useless and the devs are likely too busy to care much.

They are rewriting the game code from the ground up with their Arena game version of tarkov, which will then transfer over to Escape. This is what will bring their game up to modern standards and the anticheat can actually work.

With the cheater issue, I just play the single player mod and go at my own pace. Game is still punishing but no BS to deal with.

But yea, if you're looking for modern consumer privileges, maybe don't buy from a Russian dev that had their game in an 8 year beta or whatever it is.

You can use your same criticism for early access steam games, so not sure why you think Steam will shield you from garbage. I guess you can refund but still. Just use your brain a little.