Originally, ARC Raiders was designed as a purely cooperative, player-versus-environment (PvE) game. According to a recent development video, the player-versus-player (PvP) aspect – which has sparked some debate among players – wasn’t added until much later in the game’s creation. This change meant Embark moved away from their initial vision for a PvE experience.
In ARC Raiders, you’ll fight ARC enemies and search for valuable loot, all while watching out for other players who might attack. Because you lose everything you’re carrying when you die, exploring the world is risky and requires careful planning and skill. While some players want a mode where they can play against the environment only, the developers recently explained why adding that option would actually make the game worse.
ARC Raiders Added PvP After Realizing a PvE-Only Game Wouldn’t Work
The official YouTube channel for ARC Raiders has released the first in a series of behind-the-scenes videos about the game’s creation. In the video, the development team explains that they decided to add player-versus-player (PvP) combat later in the development process because they realized the original player-versus-environment (PvE) gameplay wouldn’t keep players engaged for the long term.
Originally, ARC Raiders was designed as a cooperative game where players would explore a large open world and jump onto giant robots to defeat them. However, after a test phase with players, the developers realized this version wouldn’t hold people’s interest for very long. According to ARC Raiders Creative Director Stefan Strandberg, the game simply “didn’t work” in its initial form and lacked the elements needed to be truly engaging.
It didn’t work. The larger recipe for the game wasn’t there.
PvP Was a Large Departure from ARC Raiders’ Original Pitch
Although players initially liked the cooperative gameplay in ARC Raiders, the developers realized something was lacking that could lead to players eventually losing interest. The game was originally intended to be free-to-play, but it launched with a price tag. According to studio head Strandberg, they couldn’t reliably create consistently enjoyable experiences for players each time they played. Combined with the shift away from a free-to-play model, Embark feared that players wouldn’t be engaged enough to maintain a healthy and active player community.
Adding player-versus-player (PvP) combat to ARC Raiders was a difficult decision, even for the game’s creators. Embark’s CEO, Patrick Soderlund, has said that many people – including himself – initially envisioned ARC Raiders as a purely player-versus-environment (PvE) experience. Ultimately, the team felt the game’s story and core gameplay could be enhanced by incorporating PvP, so they built upon their existing work to make it fit naturally.
Embark Studio prioritized development of their other competitive game, The Finals, which allowed the team working on ARC Raiders more time to perfect the blend of player-versus-player and player-versus-environment combat.
ARC Raiders’ PvP Mechanics Keep Gameplay Interesting
The team at Embark added player-versus-player (PvP) combat to ARC Raiders to make each match feel unique and unpredictable. According to Executive Producer Aleksander Grondal, they didn’t want the game world to just be a static environment for fighting robots. Introducing PvP and the ability to extract resources gives players a reason to really explore the maps, and the added danger of facing other players alongside the ARC machines creates a more exciting and tense experience.
As a fan, I was really happy to hear they decided to add PvP to ARC Raiders and turn it into an extraction shooter. It meant they could keep all the cool stuff they’d already created – the world, the story, and those epic battles against huge machines! But honestly, the PvP element turned out to be exactly what the game needed. It made everything so much more exciting and created a gameplay loop that’s totally addictive. I’m really enjoying it!
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2025-11-25 09:04