ARC Raiders Developers Found Marathon’s Playtest to be “A Great A/B Test” for Design Decisions

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With the launch of their extraction shooter, *ARC Raiders*, coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 30th, Embark Studios has been closely watching other games in the genre, particularly Bungie’s *Marathon*. Design director Virgil Watkins recently told PCGamer that they analyzed feedback from the *Marathon* playtest and used those learnings to improve *ARC Raiders*.

Watkins described a playtest for *Marathon* held earlier this year, around the same time as the *ARC Raiders* playtest, as a valuable learning experience. He explained it functioned as a helpful ‘A/B test,’ allowing Embark Studios to evaluate the effectiveness of design choices they *had* made, compared to those they were still considering.

As a fan, it was really interesting to hear Watkins talk about how their testing period just happened to line up with another team’s. Apparently, nobody saw that coming! He said it ended up being a great way for them to learn, because the other team made different choices, and they could see how those choices played out compared to their own. It was fascinating to hear him talk about following player reactions and seeing what worked for one group but not the other – and vice versa. It really gave them a chance to see what resonated with players in different situations.

Watkins admitted he hadn’t really focused much on the game *Marathon* because access was limited to playtests. Still, he liked what he *had* seen, particularly the art style, which he found very striking. He expressed his hope to see more of it as the game develops and is curious about how it will turn out.

I was reading up on ARC Raiders, and the developer, Watkins, shared a bunch of interesting stuff. One thing they said is that because the game was built from the start as a third-person shooter, it’s pretty much confirmed we won’t be seeing a first-person mode added later on. It sounds like they really focused on making it work best from that perspective!

Watkins explained that the game’s immersive world and how players interact with it – including enemies and other players – are greatly enhanced by the high quality work of the animation, audio, and environment teams. All these elements combine to create a compelling experience, making players feel truly present in the game world.

Honestly, we considered doing a first-person perspective, but third-person just felt so right that we never really explored the idea much. I’ve seen some games like *Helldivers 2* blend perspectives, but for us, switching to first-person would mean completely rethinking how we designed all our levels. It’s because when you switch to that view, what players can *see* becomes really important, and we’d have to rebuild a lot to make it work.

The online action game *ARC Raiders* recently held a successful playtest over the weekend, attracting nearly 190,000 players on PC through Steam. Another game, *Marathon*, is also planning a playtest beginning October 22nd.

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2025-10-20 17:12