Embark Studios will release ARC Raiders at the end of this month, after the team revealed they reworked the game away from its original PvE vision because early builds weren’t clicking.
The project began as a cooperative PvE title designed to prioritize teamwork over player-versus-player conflict. After the first reveal, the game went quiet, and it wasn’t until last year’s Gamescom showcase that ARC Raiders received a sizeable update and a new trailer. In an interview with Edge Magazine, Embark CEO Patrick Soderlund said the team reached a blunt conclusion: “Guys, this game is not fun.” That quote wasn’t sugarcoated. It hit like a mic drop.
We loved every aspect of what we were trying to design. But we came to the conclusion, after quite a long time: ‘Guys, this game is not fun’.
Executive Producer Aleksandr Grondal added that there are “moments of fun, but it doesn’t consistently gel,” which explains why the team reshaped the experience into a PvPvE model to create more consistent tension and higher stakes. Several team members left their roles at EA and DICE to escape the heavy PvP mechanics, but ultimately, Embark decided that the new model would secure ARC Raiders’ future. Recent playtests reportedly went well after the pivot, suggesting that the change was effective in achieving their goals.
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