ARC Raiders Studio Boss Believes Speranza is “Heavily Underutilized”

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Virgil Watkins, the design director for ARC Raiders, had mentioned plans to develop Speranza into a central gathering place for players. However, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund recently told IGN he believes the area isn’t being used to its full potential. Söderlund explained that the studio wants to significantly expand the game’s PvE content and encourage more spontaneous teamwork between player groups.

According to Josef Söderlund, the blend of cooperative PvE and competitive PvP that makes ARC Raiders special happened somewhat by chance. He explained that while they aimed for a great game, the emergent gameplay – the things players are doing within the sandbox environment – wasn’t entirely planned. He admits it’s rewarding for the development team to see how players are interacting with the game and creating unique experiences, even if those experiences weren’t specifically intended.

As a player, what really excites me about where we’re going with the game is focusing on what’s already working well. Honestly, I’m really moved by how much the social stuff brings people together – it genuinely makes me feel good about humanity again. There’s a real kindness in seeing that. Of course, the thrill of player-versus-player combat is awesome too, even if it can be frustrating at times! We need to balance both sides of that coin. So, we’re looking at the whole picture, trying to figure out how to support and grow both the cooperative and competitive aspects of the game.

Regarding the community around ARC Raiders, Embark Studios’ co-founder acknowledged that the current implementation of Speranza as just a menu isn’t making the most of its potential. He believes Speranza could become a major social space for players and a way to deepen the game’s story and background details about the area.

We’ve been discussing what ‘Speranza’ is and how to better use it in the game. I personally think it has a lot of potential, and we’re exploring ways to improve it and possibly expand on the idea. We’re also considering how it could connect with other parts of the game, creating points of interaction. These are just initial thoughts I’m sharing, and we’ve heard from players that they think it’s a promising concept too.

We’re exploring ways to make the in-game locations a place where players can connect and socialize. We also want to expand on the game’s story, as we think players are interested in learning more about the world of ARC Raiders. We’re constantly looking at how to improve the game from different angles and are committed to delivering updates and changes quickly to make it the best experience possible.

Watkins had mentioned wanting to develop Speranza into a central hub, similar to the Tower in Destiny 2 or the towns found in Monster Hunter. The team had discussed this idea internally and were waiting for the right opportunity to undertake such a large update.

ARC Raiders is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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2026-02-11 16:41