ARC Raiders Lacks Enemy HP Bars Since Embark Doesn’t Want You Playing “The Excel Sheet of a Game”

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The game ARC Raiders deliberately doesn’t display enemy health bars. Stefan Strandberg, founder and creative lead at Embark Studios, explains that the team removed this common feature to keep players focused on the game world itself, rather than relying on information displayed on the screen.

In a recent GamesRadar interview, the developer explained that an initial, player-versus-environment version of the game did have traditional elements like health bars and damage numbers. They noted that these are things developers often include automatically. However, as ARC Raiders developed, the team realized the game’s realistic physics and visual effects – like smoke, sparks, and damaged armor on enemies – already provided enough information for players to understand what was happening in combat.

Strandberg believes that displaying simple numbers – like damage or health – in a detailed and realistic game world actually detracts from the experience. He explains that their game focuses on creating immersive, three-dimensional environments with rich audio and visual effects. Adding numbers on top of that, he says, is unnecessary and turns the game into something more like a spreadsheet than an engaging world.

He explained that the team decided to rely more on the players’ instincts and observations instead of constantly providing them with detailed, on-screen information. He questioned the logic of presenting answers in a flat, two-dimensional way when the game itself is experienced in three dimensions.

This approach focuses on making text easy to read as if it were a natural part of the game’s world, rather than just a user interface element to check off a list. Strandberg clarifies that this isn’t a criticism of all games – some with traditional heads-up displays are excellent – but for Embark, reducing on-screen clutter aims to make intense combat feel more immersive and physical, less like a calculation-based task.

Ultimately, ARC Raiders doesn’t rely on detailed stats and optimization, which won’t appeal to all players. However, this design choice – focusing on visual and impactful gameplay over numbers – is consistent and could be very effective. If the game clearly communicates information even during fast-paced action, Embark’s approach of trusting players to react and learn could set a new standard for immersive shooters.

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2025-11-05 14:13