Arc Raiders success story and why Embark Studios’ new game is staying popular post-launch
Summary
Arc Raiders wasn’t on my radar before it launched in late October 2025. I, like many others, was busy playing Battlefield 6. Extraction shooters never appealed to me. I thought they were too toxic, sweaty, and try-hard for a dad gamer like myself. Boy, was I wrong.
After Arc Raiders launched, I was immediately drawn in by all the crazy moments caused by the movement of the “intelligent” Arc, the hilarious player to player interactions and the sheer thrill of killing (or getting killed by) other players.
I successfully extracted my very first match, and that gave me the confidence I had been missing in most other shooters for a long time. These are my thoughts after about 130 hours topside.
I think we need to talk about Arc Raiders. A new fresh IP, that launched in October 2025, by Stockholm based Embark Studios. It’s a PvPvE extraction shooter that keeps getting better.
I have been playing it on PC since two weeks after launch, and these are some of my thoughts on what makes Arc Raiders special.
Let me start, right off the bat, by saying I think this is an amazing game.
At the time of writing I’ve managed to play it for around 130 hours, a total number of hours that might look puny to you, but is pretty solid to me. Considering it’s combined with work and my usual dad responsibilities. It was by far my most played game in 2025, and by the looks of it, will continue that trend well into 2026.
Arc Raiders is keeping its player count and staying fun
I am not the only one spending a lot of time topside (which is Arc Raiders term for where the action happens), turns out Arc Raiders is a smashing hit across all platforms and they recently celebrated they had reached 12 million players.
Looking at the Arc Raiders data on steamdb.info, we are not seeing the typical total player dip that usually happens after the launch dust has settled. Arc Raiders is actually keeping its player count stable, and nearly increasing it.
This is a very clear positive signal from its players.
Impressive post launch stats for Arc Raiders / Credit SteamDB.info
During the 2025 holiday, a friend randomly told me he would be playing this game, and this game only - until GTA6 came out.
That is a solid statement.
I see this in my circle of grown up dad gamers as well, more and more people getting the game after being hyped by the players who play it.
The Arc, here we see the Jumper variant leaping towards a player. / Screenshot DaMooseMan
What makes Arc Raiders good?
This is completely subjective but Arc Raiders gave me a sense of achievement my very first match. Not only that, but also a clear sense of progression even from the very get go. This clear sense of progression is something I been missing in other competitive games like Battlefield 6 or last year’s Call of Duty.
A sense of achievement, and feeling rewarded for your play-time is important, especially for people with limited game time.
Arc Raiders atmosphere is also amazing, the world feels lived in and used. It does remind me, and maybe even draws some retro-futurism inspiration, of Star Wars’s Andor. The maps and environment design just feels good.
The sound design is on a whole other level, it’s insane! Some of the best I have ever heard in games as a medium. The sound is directional, something that is very important in a PvP-shooter. After some time topside, you learn the tells of different players, Arcs and environmental hazards. The sound design sells the world and its story.
Then there is the overwhelming and ever present Arc that always lurks topside, from angles you don’t expect. Their ominous sounds can always be heard.
During my first weeks of playing, I could be caught off guard and be overwhelmed even by the simplest Arcs. With better gear and game sense this happens less frequently, but there are still big baddies we sometimes get too close to.
It is also the element of… random loot. This simple dopamine mechanic still works in 2026. Finding stuff is still fun and rewarding. Who would have thought?
Then it’s the element of other players. Are they friendly? Will they kill you? Will you team up to kill a Matriarch… or backstab them to take their loot? The always present PvP element makes this even more exciting and stressful.
By engaging in a shootout with other players, you risk either
- winning and getting their loot or, more likely
- dying and losing all your hard earned loot.
What do you do? This is something you need to decide for yourself.
Genius proximity chat
This is a PvPvE game, meaning there are always other players present. Smartly enough, Embark enabled proximity chat in Arc Raiders. Prox chat in this game is pure genius. Interacting with other players leads to countless hilarious situations.
Hey Raider, DON’T SHOOT!
Friendly…? Sometimes you need to point your gun to get people to talk. / Screenshot from Embark Studios
Just a few days ago, two friends and I were overwhelmed in the traditional PvP heavy map Spaceport. While downed, I was role playing a downed raider, and asking the other raiders “Why, why did you do this. I’m just a simple raider looking for loot”.
They revived me, and in return, I gave them one of my favorite items for sharing good times with friends and strangers; the flute.
We continued to flute our way to the extraction while simultaneously dancing and blinking our lights.
I know proximity chat with strangers online can be a hit or miss, but my experience with Arc Raiders has been overwhelmingly positive.
Embark is also keeping their cards close to their chest with updates. Just recently, they came out saying there are aggro based lobbies.
And during the first few weeks after launch, we the players were speculating if Embark had implemented “duo-lobbies”. Turned out, they had.
We, the players, don’t really know what counts as triggers for being flagged an “aggressive” or “passive” player. Turns out, that 3-4 solo matches saluting people (“Hey, Raider”) and not shooting strangers in the back - eventually leads to very passive lobbies. Who would have thought?
Now there is a limit on your party size, the chance for one trigger happy individual increases by the total number of players after all. So don’t expect to survive simply by saying “don’t shoot” in a party of three.
Then there is the PvPvE element. The Arc that you fight topside is always present. And a single wasp is ok, but depending on gear and loadouts we can be overrun and overwhelmed when there are several Arcs above.
Late and endgame possibilities
Although I am 130 hours in at this point, I am not close to either the level cap or having all blueprints I want. However, I have been messing around way more than what I recommend. There are still basic quests I have not done. It is possible to be done with the game with a lower total time than me.
Embark’s mechanic for retiring the character is sending them on an expedition. Naturally an expedition costs resources, that you need to collect and send off. Then, when a new season starts, you get a new character with some perks. Some skill points and workbenches are carried over.
Some players were calling for a more rewarding… reward for sending off their characters to the ever beyond, but this game is evolving. So let’s see what Embark has in store for it down the line.
Trials and how to rank up
We also have trials. Trials are 5 different mini quests that you do for points. This can be “damage to flying Arcs”, “harvesting mushrooms” or “throwing snowballs on a bastion”. The trials rotate and are changed up every 6 days (or so).
By doing a trial and extracting successfully, you get points. These points reward you with items, but they are also counted on a leaderboard. This point system lets you rank up. This is another thing people can do late game.
How can Embark evolve Arc Raiders?
I think Arc Raiders has a fantastic frame, or outline, for a game. All the magic parts are here. The interactions with other players. The maps are really good. The Arc can continue to evolve and new enemies can be introduced.
New maps are most definitely coming, we have already seen one new map release with Stella Montis.
Then there are the rotating modifiers that we currently have on all maps. These are modifiers like night raids, electromagnetic storms, enemy modifiers where there is increased loot and XP, but likely an even more sweaty PvP session than normal.
These modifiers lead to endless possibilities. They can tweak, add in new, and test out what players like. During the holiday season we had the cold snap, not only did this introduce snow to the maps (and the possibility to toss snowballs on other players), but the cold mechanic was also introduced. Every two-ish minutes you have to go indoors, if not you will start taking cold damage. A mechanic that can be evolved, tweaked and changed in countless ways.
Arc Raiders is not a battle royale, but the ring feature could be introduced with bombs being dropped outside of the ring.
Just imagine as the clock ticks down towards zero, the ring gets closer, forcing the players tighter together. Imagine if a big bad Arc just so happens to be present in the ring. Do you fight each other, or do you collaborate?
Cinematic community videos
Turns out this game has an atmosphere that is so cinematic that the community is already making amazing videos.
One of those creators is Director of Gametography (linktree-link) on YouTube, who has an amazing talent for making cinematic videos from games.
Just look at what he does with complete strangers in Arc Raiders. Amazing.
Final thoughts on Arc Raiders
Sometimes when you play a game, something insane happens. Something epic, something you keep talking about with your gamer pals. You keep thinking about it the next few days at work. These things can happen in all games, but the overall frequency is higher than any other game with Arc Raiders.
That’s what makes this game so good, the epic gaming moments are so frequent.
I really like what Embark Studios has done with Arc Raiders. They have managed to create something beautiful that they hopefully can manage the right way and keep exciting and fresh for years to come. How they will do that we don’t know, but I am excited to see what they have in store.
If you see (or hear) a naive Norwegian playing the flute topside, come say hi. If not, I might shoot you in the back.
See you topside raider.
