Unlike the popular extraction game Escape from Tarkov, ARC Raiders doesn’t offer much in the way of player trading. However, Embark Studios’ new extraction adventure game, released in October 2025, is quickly becoming a strong competitor.
Embark Studios originally intended to compete with the game Escape from Tarkov by including a player-driven auction house. This would have allowed players to freely trade items with each other using in-game tokens. However, the feature was canceled. What led to this decision?
Why Does ARC Raiders Not Have Trading?
In ARC Raiders, players can visit shops in Speranza to buy a wide variety of items, including explosives, weapons, crafting components, upgrades, and healing supplies. However, this is the extent of the game’s trading system, and some players feel it’s a limitation.
Escape from Tarkov, a popular online game known for its challenging gameplay, features a ‘Flea Market’ where players can trade items with each other. This marketplace is essential to the game, simplifying tasks like assembling gear, finishing missions, and finding valuable items.
Players of ARC Raiders, the new game from Embark Studios, have been curious about the lack of a trading system like a ‘Flea Market.’ Recently, the developers shared that they actually considered adding one.
Virgil Watkins, the design lead for ARC Raiders, recently told Games Radar that the game almost included an auction house feature.
We’re not creating a marketplace. Right now, our design is focused more on helping people connect and interact with each other.
We intentionally focused on making items central to the gameplay. We experimented with a trading system similar to an auction house, but it ultimately shifted the focus from the items themselves to simply collecting coins.
ARC Raiders relies heavily on random loot, making each raid unique. The excitement comes from discovering rare items, which is very rewarding for players. However, being able to simply purchase those items from other players on a trading platform removes that sense of discovery and satisfaction.
ARC Raiders puts a strong emphasis on building workbenches and crafting items. While you can also craft in Escape from Tarkov – and sometimes need to for certain objectives – the presence of the Flea Market diminishes how vital crafting feels.
The team behind Escape from Tarkov, Battlestate Games, has been working for years to perfect the in-game Flea Market and make it fair. When the game officially launched in November, they added a change that limited trading options until players reached specific levels.
For instance, you can’t trade keys until you’re at least level 25 in Escape from Tarkov.
Currently, ARC Raiders doesn’t allow players to trade items with each other, which can lead to a frustrating build-up of unwanted gear or a desire to buy missing items with real money – a practice known as RMT. Hopefully, the developers will add player-to-player trading in the future to address this issue and discourage RMT.
Grant Taylor-Hill
Grant’s love of video games began in his earliest years with the Amstrad CPC, even before he could walk well. He’s now a skilled gamer on many different platforms, and his passion for gaming hasn’t faded.
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2026-01-17 16:18