Patrick Söderlund’s Embark Studios has revealed a major change for its big-budget shooter ARC Raiders that will see it switching to a totally new genre. Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal explained in a blog post detailed some of the changes the game has seen in the last few months, which will see ARC Raiders become a PvPvE extraction shooter, where before it was a cooperative PvE shooter.
“Last spring, we made the decision to move the release of ARC Raiders in order to focus on releasing THE FINALS, our team-based first-person shooter, as our first game,” Grøndal said. “At that time, we also said we were giving the ARC Raiders team time to add PvP to the existing foundation of the game.”
That development led to the game naturally evolving into a PvPvE extraction shooter. Extraction shooters have become much more prominent as a game type in the last few years. Some popular examples include Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode, Escape from Tarkov, and Marauders. It seems ARC Raiders is looking to adopt many of the elements seen in some of these games, but as described in an updated game summary, it will pack in its own wrinkles, too:
People have fled to the underground colony of Speranza, seeking supplies to survive, and shelter from the machines. Demand for resources is at an all-time high. But getting those resources is a risky job, and it isn’t for everyone.
But it is a job for you.
That’s why you’ve enlisted as a Raider, scavenging for vital supplies that are scattered across the landscape. Everything from leftovers from yesterday’s run-in with ARC to the unlikely remains of a pinball machine.
Out there, the stakes are high, and you will have to fight for your loot. Lethal ARC machines roam the surface. And there are no rules in Calabretta, so beware of other Raiders.
With the traders in Speranza, trust is hard-earned and easily lost. You need to earn your keep. So don’t come back from a quest empty-handed.
When you see another Raider chased by a swarm of ARC drones, do you go in for the kill? Do you lend a helping hand? Or do you hold back and feast on the valuable remains?
Embark says that the next step is to launch into an upcoming closed alpha test to learn more about how it can further flesh out the ARC Raiders experience. The test will be private, requiring signing an NDA, and used to prove some theories the team has before diving deeper into its ideas. However, ARC Raiders closed alpha signups are available now at Steam ahead of its summer launch.
ARC Raiders is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S sometime in the future, now with a new genre. With Embark’s third-person extraction shooter undergoing major changes behind the scenes, fans can still look forward to The Finals, which should release sometime this year.
