ARC Raiders Gears up For October Release, Opens Final Server Test Soon
- ARC Raiders launches Oct. 30 on PC, PS5, and Xbox, with a final open server test Oct. 17–19.
- Once a free-to-play PvE game, it’s now a $40 PvPvE extraction shooter.
- Embark promises no pay-to-win, only cosmetic purchases, and post-launch expansions.
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Mech Threat
Embark Studios (The Finals) is getting ready to release its long-awaited new game, ARC Raiders, after first revealing it back in 2021. It’s set to appear on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, on Oct. 30.
ARC Raiders is set in a future that owes a visual debt to Italian history and Brutalism, as a towering mechanized threat (the titular ARC) ravages the surface. Gamers play as a Raider and scavenge for supplies to try and defeat the evil robot menace. Embark Studios is running a crossplatform Open Server Slam Test before release so players can experience the retooled PvPvE combat.
“From Oct. 17 – 19, we’re running a three-day Server Slam Open Test. It’s one final opportunity to get your hands on ARC Raiders before launch. Get your Squad together and mark your calendars. The Rust Belt is calling!” the studio said in a news post.
“No codes this time. Everyone’s welcome. The Server Slam will be live on all platforms and access will roll out slowly on day one. Progress made during the Slam will not carry over to the launch version of the game. Participating Raiders will, however, get a Server Slam Exclusive backpack to always signify that they were part of this historic moment, delivered to you after purchasing the full game at launch.”
PvE No More
ARC Raiders was announced in December 2021 with an expected 2022 release. However, back then, it was still being marketed as a co-op action shooter with no PvP elements at all. However, this was then followed by almost complete radio silence until 2024, when Embark Studios announced that ARC Raiders (and The Finals) would be published in China by Tencent.
This was then followed by a new game trailer at Gamescom last year, and a public playtest on PC. Another playtest followed in April this year, and the upcoming test next week will be the last one before the game officially launches.
Embark Studios’ CEO Patrick Söderlund spoke to Edge magazine earlier this year and revealed that the game experienced a substantial delay because they ended up retooling it from a co-op/PvE game into something closer to an extraction shooter. Although the change could be due to that being a popular genre, Soderlund said the main reason for the delay was because the game didn’t feel “fun.”
Söderlund previously worked as EA’s Executive Vice President of Studios, and when he left to start Embark Studios some of the devs working under related studios, primarily DICE (the Battlefield series), joined him. Although they were reluctant to work on another PvP game, Söderlund said that the team realised that ARC Raiders needed that element to help it feel more enjoyable to play more often.
The Finals And F2P
Embark Studios may also have experienced a degree of PvP fatigue due to making this a large part of its debut title, The Finals. Released in December 2023, it’s a team-based live service first-person game billed by the studio as a “Dynamism Shooter” – the devs brought their Battlefield experience to the fore by creating a destructible environment that allows not only for cover to be destroyed, but for entire buildings to get brought down.
The Finals was supposed to come out after ARC Raiders – it started development second – but turned out to be a strong debut title. Now on its eighth season (players take part in a violent gameshow to fight each other), it routinely pulls in around 30,000 regular players on PC alone.
The Finals is also free-to-play (F2P), which is what ARC Raiders was initially promoted as being. However, with the latter’s release drawing closer Embark Studios revealed that it’ll now be sold for $40, which the game’s Executive Producer, Aleksander Gröndal, explained in a news post.
“You may recall that ARC Raiders was announced as a free-to-play game. Today, we announced that ARC Raiders will be released as a $40 premium title. There are many reasons for this change, and they all boil down to our conviction that a premium business model is a better fit for the type of game we’re building. A premium model allows us to create a more focused, balanced, and engaging action-survival experience.”
What Players Want
Gamers have been torn on this decision as well as the shift to PvP (even though evil giant robots are still the main threat), with some complaining on social media that they wanted PvE, not another extraction shooter. Others have been confused by the studio’s wording around the game’s shift away from the F2P model, although recently posted FAQs on Discord do give some idea of what to expect.
For example, Embark Studios explicitly states that “ARC Raiders will not have any pay-to-win features. The only way to gain functionality and power will be through playing and leveling up the skill-tree.” This is then followed by talk of Raider Decks, Cred and Raider Tokens: Decks are listed as being cosmetic rewards bought using Cred. Cred is in-game currency earned by completing daily challenges. Raider Tokens are best explained in Embark Studios’ own words:
“Raider Tokens are the premium in-game currency that can be acquired through your platform store. You can use them to buy cosmetic items in the Shop, and to buy premium Raider Decks when they become available. At first, you won’t be able to earn Raider Tokens via gameplay, but there may be opportunities to do so down the line.”
Gamers have noted that this sounds like how the studio handles extra content in The Finals, although others have referenced the Helldivers 2 model, which has Super Credits as premium currency that can be earned in-game or paid for with real money. These in turn unlock cosmetics, but also armor and weapons.
As for ARC Raiders’ release, Embark Studios have the expected Standard and Deluxe editions, both of which also come with pre-order in-game cosmetic bonuses. However, only the Deluxe edition comes with 2,400 Raider Tokens to purchase additional in-game items.
ARC Raiders is currently the fifth most Wishlisted game on Steam, just under a title from the studio’s former colleagues: Battlefield 6. Embark Studios has been vocal in terms of appreciating the support of its community: “From the very beginning, this project has been a labor of love, shaped not only by our team at Embark Studios, but by you, our community,” Gröndal said in a news post.
“Your feedback, energy, and support – particularly in the last two tech tests – have played a vital role in shaping the experience we’re about to launch. So on behalf of all of us, thank you!”
He added: “At release, the game will also be expanded, with more locations to explore, more ARC enemies to fight, a larger selection of weapons and gear to find and craft, more adventures to embark on, and more for players to strive towards and discover.”
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