Introduction to ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders is a multiplayer third-person extraction shooter developed and published by Embark Studios, the creators of The Finals. Initially announced as a cooperative third-person shooter in 2021, the game's genre evolved into a player-versus-player-versus-environment (PvPvE) extraction shooter by 2023. The game officially launched on October 30, 2025, across PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Since its release, ARC Raiders has garnered generally favorable reviews from critics and has been recognized with awards such as Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2025. It quickly achieved significant success, selling over 14 million copies worldwide by February 2026 and reaching a peak of 960,000 concurrent players.

Game Premise and Setting

ARC Raiders is set in a lethal future Earth in the year 2180, ravaged by a mysterious mechanized threat known as ARC. Decades prior, hostile machines of unknown origin descended from outer space, forcing humanity underground to survive. One such human safe haven is Speranza, a makeshift subterranean city located beneath the Rust Belt in post-apocalyptic Italy.

Players take on the role of "Raiders" from Speranza, who voluntarily venture to the dangerous surface, known as "Topside," during periods of low ARC activity. Their primary objective is to scavenge vital resources, including goods from the old world and components from downed ARC machines, to support Speranza's survival. The surface world, while devastated, is also described as vibrant and beautiful, blending remnants of Italy's history with brutal infrastructure. The lore of ARC Raiders delves into a rich timeline, including a global environmental collapse, an Exodus into space, and the subsequent waves of ARC invasions.

Gameplay Mechanics: Raids and Extraction

ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter played from a third-person perspective, offering both solo play and team-ups in squads of two or three. The core gameplay loop involves deploying from the underground base onto the planet's surface for approximately 30-minute raids. During these raids, players must fight hostile NPC robots (the ARC) and navigate encounters with other human players who are also competing for loot.

The objective is to scavenge items and materials, then successfully extract them back to the underground base. If a player is killed during a raid, they lose any equipment and materials collected, except for loot stored in a designated safe pocket. Players can escape via various extraction points such as elevators, metro stations, air shafts, or safer "raider hatches" that require keys to open.

Upon returning to Speranza, Raiders can sell collected items, upgrade their character perks and skills, purchase new gear, or craft weapons and items in their workshop to prepare for subsequent raids. The game also features quests from various vendors, which often involve seeking special items or visiting specific locations on the surface.

Raider Progression and Customization

ARC Raiders offers players extensive options to shape their character and playstyle. The game includes a skill tree that branches into three distinct paths: Survival, Mobility, and Conditioning. Players can spend skill points earned from gaining experience to unlock new abilities and configure their Raider to their personal preference.

Players can build their arsenal with a variety of firearms, including SMGs, rifles, shotguns, railguns, and energy weapons. Tactical depth is provided through gadgets such as grenades, traps, ziplines, and deployables. Augments allow for further tailoring of loadouts by unlocking dedicated inventory slots and additional gameplay perks. Raiders also craft weapons, gadgets, and gear using scavenged materials, long-lost tech, and looted ARC parts, with the ability to upgrade workshop stations and learn blueprints for advanced items.

Enemies and Threats: The ARC and Other Raiders

The primary antagonists are the ARC machines, which are designed to feel heavy, industrial, and interactively compelling due to the game's use of physics and procedural animation. Various types of ARC pose unique challenges:

Beyond the machines, other human Raiders present a constant threat. While cooperation is encouraged, raiding is unregulated, and some Raiders choose to hunt and steal from others, creating a tense PvPvE environment. Matchmaking prioritizes Squad vs. Squad and Solos vs. Solos to balance these encounters.

Development and Release Information

Developed by Embark Studios, ARC Raiders was initially announced at The Game Awards 2021 as a free-to-play cooperative third-person shooter. However, in 2023, the studio revealed a shift in genre to a PvPvE extraction shooter. The game was built using Unreal Engine 5.

Before its full launch, ARC Raiders underwent several playtests:

During this period, Embark Studios announced that the game would no longer be free-to-play, instead being available for purchase at $40 upon release. ARC Raiders officially launched on October 30, 2025, for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It also supports cross-platform social play and is available through Nvidia GeForce Now cloud streaming.

Post-release support has included several major patches, with version 1.26.0 launching on April 28, 2026, focusing on bug fixes, gameplay exploits, and balance. In May 2026, Embark Studios announced a shift to a bi-annual schedule for major content updates, with the "Frozen Trail" update planned for October 2026.