Arc Raiders devs wanted to make it an adventure game more than a shooter: 'We saw more potential in allowing players to explore rather than just shoot'

Arc Raiders devs wanted to make it an adventure game more than a shooter: ‘We saw more potential in allowing players to explore rather than just shoot’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Third Person Shooter Arc Raider’s defining feature, according to Embark’s CEO, is all the odd player interactions: ‘We did not expect people to take on roles of Defender of the Swamp’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ devs didn’t expect such a passionate PvE-only crowd Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders design director says players ‘never worked together’ in testing, but the emergence of care bear lobbies ‘encourages us to lean toward giving opportunities to have friendly interactions’ Third Person Shooter The first thing Arc Raiders’ devs did during its extraction pivot was to reduce the speed of everything by 60%: ‘All the craft that was in the game was kind of background noise’ Third Person Shooter Embark admits Arc Raiders’ bosses are dying too fast because ‘they’re not intended for the full server to go up against’ and ‘we gave players too effective abilities’ Third Person Shooter Let’s settle this: Should Arc Raiders add a PvE mode? Third Person Shooter ‘We did not want to be close to them’: The only game Arc Raiders wanted to avoid on release was predictably GTA 6, ‘I don’t think anyone wanted to be close to them’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders full interview: ‘Nobody whatsoever thought we’d have this many players’ Action Embark CEO says Arc Raiders ‘should do more with the trading part of the game’ and he’s right Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders once had jump pads and the Snap Hook made you ‘like Spider-Man’ before its extraction shooter pivot: ‘It was much more heroic’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ contentious ‘aggression-based matchmaking’ isn’t just smart, but absolutely necessary Third Person Shooter ‘The game isn’t about shooting other players’: Embark CEO says Arc Raiders is unlikely to get a PvP leaderboard because the devs ‘don’t necessarily want to foster that kind of gameplay’ Third Person Shooter Embark dispels myths about Arc Raiders’ aggression-based matchmaking: ‘We don’t make any value or moral judgments … it’s a bit of a blunt instrument’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ old machine designs sound so diabolical, it’s no wonder they were reworked or removed after poor playtest feedback: ‘At that time, they didn’t fit with the game very well’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders received ‘substantial negative PvP sentiment’ during testing, causing the devs to second-guess its big pivot before realising it was really frustration with weapons and matchmaking PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonGDCBest PC gearQuizzes Games Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders Arc Raiders devs wanted to make it an adventure game more than a shooter: ‘We saw more potential in allowing players to explore rather than just shoot’ News By Rory Norris published 19 March 2026 It’s about the friends (or enemies) you made along the way. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Embark) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. 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Subscribe to our newsletter Until Arc Raiders pivoted away from being a solely PvE boss fight race, production director Caio Braga said in a recent GDC talk that no one could really describe what the game was: “You’d ask someone who would say it was a battle royale versus Arc, or it’s a co-op Shadow of the Colossus game, or it’s a hero looter shooter… our Arc developers thought the game was a co-op Souls game.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that’s conducive to actually getting a game out the door.We had the chance to chat with Braga after his GDC talk last week, and he expanded on the revitalised vision for the game during this pivotal moment—a chance the team was lucky to have.Referring to the PvPvE extraction reset, Braga explained that “back then, we said we wanted to find an accessible extraction—at that time—shooter.” However, the focus quickly shifted more in favour of “adventure” than pure shooter: “We saw more potential in allowing players to explore rather than just shoot.”Article continues below You may like No one at Embark could describe Arc Raiders before its extraction shooter pivot, leading to ‘playtest battles’ of competing directions for the game Arc Raider’s defining feature, accordi