ARC Raiders change d’orientation mais reste free-to-play

Swedish studio Embark’s cooperative sci-fi TPS ARC Raiders becomes a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter.

Aleksander Grondal, executive producer at Embark Studiosexplain why ARC Raiders converts back to PvPvE shooter extraction:

Last spring, we made the decision to push back the release of ARC Raiders in order to focus on releasing THE FINALS, our competitive FPS as our first game. At the time, we also indicated that we were giving the ARC Raiders team time to add PvP to the existing base of the game. Since then, over the course of development, ARC Raiders has taken the form of what we believe to be a third-person shooter, oriented PvPvE , extraction-focused, really promising – a game that stays true to the ARC Raiders universe and that we’re having fun testing internally. ARC Raiders immerses players in a deadly but stunningly beautiful earthly future, with moments of survival and suspense that take your breath away. Man versus machine, man versus man, together or alone, and you versus the sometimes conflicting nature of your own humanity, all against the spectacular backdrop of a landscape littered with haunted remnants of the past.

Raiders! We’re about to test our new extraction survival PvPvE experience, in a Closed Alpha setting under NDA. To get a chance to play, sign up for Playtesting on Steam: https://t.co/be0gBCwL2t pic.twitter.com/lQW7RYeDIy

— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) May 16, 2023

He also adds that players will soon be able to try ARC Raiders on PC although this new license will also be available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S:

The next step for us is the closed alpha test to get feedback on the main systems and loops of the game. This will be the first test of ARC Raiders and an important step in building the game which, so far, has never been in the hands of external players. This test will be closed and under NDA, as work on the game continues and we are not ready to reveal everything about it yet. We still have work to do and theories to prove before presenting them to the world.

Embark Studios is changing the story of ARC Raiders to match its new genre

Originally, ARC Raiders focused on the confrontation between Raiders and ARC, military machines, except that to justify the “extraction shooter PvPvE” aspect à la Escape from Tarkov, the story now mixes other Conflict Raiders:

People took refuge in the underground settlement of Speranza, in search of provisions to survive and shelter from the machines. The demand for resources has reached an all-time high. But obtaining these resources is risky work, which is not suitable for everyone. But it’s a job for you. That’s why you enlisted as a Raider, searching for vital resources scattered across the landscape. Everything from the remains of yesterday’s encounter with the ARC to the unlikely remains of a pinball machine. There, the stakes are high and you will have to fight for your spoils. Deadly ARC machines roam the surface. And there are no rules in Calabretta, so beware of other Raiders. With Speranza merchants, trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. You have to make a living. Don’t come back from a quest empty-handed. When you see another Raider being chased by a swarm of ARC drones, will you kill them? Do you give him a hand? Or do you hold back and feast on the precious leftovers?