搜打撤还是撤离射击？SFE or Extraction Shooter?

引言

在电子游戏发展的历程中，人们对于游戏的命名和定义总是有着不同看法。在很长一段时间里都没有一个统一的说法。就像在十年前的中文社群里，游戏甚至被简单粗暴进行了“单机游戏”、“网络游戏”这样的标签区分，而CS系列、使命召唤系列等在这被归类为“单机游戏”。这听起来很怪，但随后社区里又出现了对它的解释：这是属于“可联机的单机游戏”。虽然我们如今听到的Rogue-Like（肉鸽）、FPS（第一人称射击游戏）、RPG（角色扮演类游戏）等类型或者标签好像得到了广泛的认可，但实际上它们的命名方式并没有统一，有些是基于玩法或者机制、有些则是不好描述但某个作品有着开创性地位（比如肉鸽、黑魂类型的游戏会说是肉鸽-Like、类魂/魂系）

最近逃离塔科夫正式登陆Steam了，而近年来也有不少“类塔科夫”的游戏出现，也许可以重新思考能否用一个新的名词来替代？

撤离类射击游戏

目前对于这个类型的游戏主要还是以下两种称呼：

Extraction Shooter（撤离类射击）：这是目前最普遍的西方术语。维基百科将其定义为“玩家必须到达撤离点，并在途中搜刮战利品，若成功撤离则可保留装备”。这一名称强调了“撤离”这一动作和“射击”这一手段，但却忽略了其中的“搜”（资源获取与评估）以及“打”（非对称对抗）的复杂性。
Tarkov-like（类塔科夫）：如同“Souls-like”（类魂）一样，这是基于《逃离塔科夫》这一奠基之作的衍生称呼。虽然《逃离塔科夫》并非该机制的绝对首创者（早期的《DayZ》等生存模组以及《The Division》的暗区模式已有雏形），但它确立了该类型的黄金标准——硬核、拟真、全掉落。然而，使用具体IP作为类型名称在学术上是不严谨的，它容易导致后续研究者忽视该类型中偏离“塔科夫模式”的创新作品。

在这篇文章Former Bungie director thinks the term extraction shooter is 'so dumb' that he wanted to work with Marathon's marketing team to 'create a different genre name'中我们能看到前Bungie导演认为Extraction Shooter是个非常蠢的类型名称，他觉得这样命名的话《地狱潜兵2》也属于这个类型，但是我们也都知道塔科夫和地狱潜兵不是一个类型的游戏。

我不完全认同他的观点，也有不少玩家反对他的看法，毕竟大家都乐意这么叫，而你觉得不好却没有给出一个更好的答案。

在中文社区中，撤离射击常常被叫做另一个简单粗暴的组合名词——搜打撤

在了解这个标签以后重新看待塔科夫和地狱潜兵的话，一个是“搜打撤”，即搜刮、打（战斗）、带着战利品撤离；另一个是降落星球、完成任务、撤离。此时，我个人就觉得“搜打撤”这个中文社群近期常用的标签要比撤离射击游戏更贴切一些。

DOTA-Like到MOBA

有这么个类似的案例可以讲一下：

在2009年之前，DOTA（Defense of the Ancients）不仅仅是一款《魔兽争霸III》的RPG地图，它就是一种信仰，一种玩法的代名词。当时市场上涌现出的《Demigod》、《Heroes of Newerth》（HON）等游戏，都有被称为“Dota-like”或“类Dota游戏”的经历。这种命名方式对于后续的挑战者来说是致命的。如果你的游戏被定义为“类Dota”，那么在玩家的潜意识里，有可能只是原作的模仿者或附庸。 2009年，当Riot Games准备推出《英雄联盟》（League of Legends）时，他们敏锐地意识到了这个问题。为了在市场营销上与DOTA切割，确立自己的独立地位，Riot Games创造并大力推广了 MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) 这一术语。

虽然我记忆中游戏的初期宣传并没有完全甩掉这个标签，腾讯当时在国服给出的宣传还是“DOTA原班人马打造”……

MOBA这个词的推出也不是完全没有异议的，有人觉得《雷神之锤》也可以是、《星际争霸》也可以是，甚至字面意义上几乎所有的多人对战游戏都可以叫MOBA。

然而，后面的故事我们也知道了。随着《英雄联盟》的全球爆红，以及随后Valve推出的《Dota 2》和暴雪的《Heroes of the Storm》（风暴英雄），MOBA这个词逐渐被赋予了特定的内涵：三路兵线、塔防元素、英雄成长、5v5对抗。

将搜打撤推向国际？

我们都知道现代游戏往往包含了很多复杂的机制，用“类某某”的方式描述某个创新类型的游戏大概不再合适，而在近期比较热门的这类“Extraction Shooter”游戏来说，我个人觉得中文社群里简单粗暴的“搜打撤”定义要比撤离射击更加直观。

至少，你听到“搜打撤”的时候能很快Get到它的玩法，而初次听到撤离射击游戏的时候不一定能掌握到它“搜刮”、“交战”以及种种不确定因素带来的刺激感。至于“搜打撤”在英文中应该是Search/Fight/Extrac还是Loot/Fight/Extract又或者是别的单词、缩写，那就要交给广大的社区来共同决定了。

Introduction

Throughout the history of video game development, there have always been conflicting views on how to name and define games. For a long time, there was no unified consensus.

Take the Chinese gaming community of a decade ago as an example: games were crudely divided into two labels: "Single-player Games" (Danji) and "Online Games." Under this system, titles like the Counter-Strike series and Call of Duty were paradoxically classified as "Single-player Games." This sounds strange to modern ears, but the community later rationalized it by defining them as "Single-player games that support multiplayer connections" (distinguishing them from MMORPGs which were the dominant form of "Online Games" in China at the time).

While genres like Rogue-like, FPS, and RPG seem widely accepted today, their naming conventions are actually quite inconsistent. Some are based on gameplay mechanics, while others—hard to describe but defined by a pioneering work—are simply named after the original (e.g., "Rogue-like" or "Souls-like").

With Escape from Tarkov officially landing on Steam recently, and the emergence of numerous "Tarkov-like" games, perhaps it is time to rethink: Can we find a new term to define this genre?

The Extraction Shooter

Currently, there are two main terms used to describe this genre:

Extraction Shooter: This is the most common Western term. Wikipedia defines it as a game where "players must reach an extraction point and scavenge for loot along the way; successful extraction allows the player to keep the loot." While this emphasizes the actions of "Extracting" and "Shooting," it overlooks the complexity of the "Search" (resource acquisition and valuation) and the "Fight" (asymmetric confrontation).
Tarkov-like: Much like "Souls-like," this is a derivative term based on Escape from Tarkov, the foundational title of the genre. Although Tarkov wasn't the absolute creator of these mechanics (early survival mods like DayZ or the Dark Zone in The Division showed prototypes), it established the gold standard: hardcore, realistic, and full-loot mechanics. However, using a specific IP as a genre name is academically imprecise and risks causing future researchers to overlook innovative works that deviate from the specific "Tarkov formula."

In the article "Former Bungie director thinks the term extraction shooter is 'so dumb' that he wanted to work with Marathon's marketing team to 'create a different genre name'", we see that a former Bungie director finds "Extraction Shooter" to be a foolish name. He argues that under this definition, even Helldivers 2 could be classified as such. Yet, we all know that Tarkov and Helldivers are fundamentally different games.

I don’t entirely agree with his point, and many players oppose his view—after all, people are happy using the term, and he criticized it without offering a better alternative.

However, in the Chinese community, Extraction Shooters are often referred to by another blunt, compound noun: "搜打撤（Sou-Da-Che）" (Search-Fight-Extract).

Viewing Tarkov and Helldivers through this label clarifies the distinction.

Tarkov is "Search-Fight-Extract": You Scavenge (Search), you Combat (Fight), and you Evacuate with your loot.
Helldivers is: Drop to planet, Complete Mission, Extract.

In this light, I personally feel that the tag "Search-Fight-Extract"—widely used in the Chinese community recently—is more accurate than "Extraction Shooter."

From DOTA-Like to MOBA

Before 2009, DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) was not just a Warcraft III RPG map; it was a religion, a synonym for a specific type of gameplay. Games that flooded the market at the time, like Demigod and Heroes of Newerth (HON), all went through the phase of being called "Dota-likes."

This naming convention is fatal for subsequent challengers. If your game is defined as "Dota-like," players subconsciously view it as merely an imitator or vassal of the original.

In 2009, when Riot Games was preparing to launch League of Legends, they were keenly aware of this issue. To separate themselves from DOTA in marketing and establish their independent status, Riot Games created and heavily promoted the term MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena).

Although, in my memory, the initial promotion didn't completely shake off the label. Tencent's marketing for the Chinese server at the time still pitched it as "Created by the original DOTA team"...

The introduction of the term MOBA was not without controversy. Some argued that Quake could be a MOBA, StarCraft could be a MOBA, and that literally almost any multiplayer competitive game could be called a "Multiplayer Online Battle Arena."

However, we know the rest of the story. With the global explosion of League of Legends, followed by Valve’s Dota 2 and Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm, the term MOBA gradually acquired a specific connotation: three lanes, tower defense elements, hero progression, and 5v5 confrontation.

Pushing "Search-Fight-Extract" (SFE) to the World?

We all know that modern games often contain many complex mechanics, so describing an innovative genre as "Like-X" is likely no longer appropriate. For the currently popular "Extraction Shooter" genre, I personally feel the blunt Chinese definition of "Search-Fight-Extract" (SFE) is more intuitive.

At the very least, when you hear "Search-Fight-Extract," you can instantly grasp the gameplay loop. In contrast, hearing "Extraction Shooter" for the first time doesn't necessarily convey the thrill brought by "Scavenging," "Engaging," and the various uncertainties of the match.

As for what "搜打撤（Sou-Da-Che）" should be in English, it would likely translate to Search / Fight / Escape...