ARC Raiders is launching on all platforms in just a few hours, following positive feedback from playtesting.
Interestingly, the game’s release date falls between the expected launches of Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
Even so, Patrick Soderlund, CEO of Embark Studios, isn’t concerned. He told The Game Business that every game has to begin somewhere.
ARC Raiders recently finished its last free public playtest, called Server Slam. Players generally enjoyed the test, which is a good sign for the game’s upcoming release.
ARC Raiders reached a high point of around 190,000 players playing at the same time. This made it one of the most popular games on Steam that weekend.
However, the game’s release date, falling between two major game launches, left some wondering about the decision-making behind it.
In the interview, Soderlund said:
We understand this might seem unexpected, even crazy. People might question our decision, but we’ve carefully considered all sides. Ultimately, we believe launching the game there is the right move, even if it’s a risk. This is just the beginning, and every journey has to start somewhere.
Patrick Soderlund Believes They Can Launch the Game in that Window
What Soderlund said might seem crazy, but the game actually performed really well during testing, according to the data.
When asked about the success of their playtest in attracting so many players, Soderlund explained:
Ultimately, success depends on avoiding the assumption that we can create something worthwhile without truly innovating. We need to offer something compelling enough to grab people’s attention, and if it’s good enough, they’ll likely stay engaged. To convince people to switch from what they’re already enjoying, we need to offer a real draw.
Soderlund initially had concerns about whether ARC Raiders would find an audience. However, they were pleasantly surprised by the positive response to their early technical test.
We definitely put effort into marketing it, but it unexpectedly became popular and spread quickly through word-of-mouth and social media,” Soderlund explained.
To me, it really highlights how well they managed to make something deep and intricate, but still easy to pick up and enjoy. It proves they nailed that balance!
Last week, ARC Raiders design director Virgil Watkins said that releasing their game’s playtest at the same time as Bungie’s Marathon was really helpful – it allowed them to compare how players reacted to both games.
This highlights Embark Studios’ strong belief in their game. Even though ARC Raiders is launching shortly, they’re already developing two new, unannounced projects.
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2025-10-29 23:36