Embark’s Caio Braga said Last of Us players unexpectedly rated ARC Raiders highly
Braga told GamesRadar+ that playtests found The Last of Us players ranked an ARC Raiders co-op build highest among a group of co-op and adventure fans, which informed the game's 'extraction adventure' label.
Embark Studios’ production director Caio Braga said he was surprised when players of The Last of Us rated ARC Raiders highly during early playtests. Braga spoke about the results in an interview with GamesRadar+.
The studio asked playtest participants which other games they played and how they felt about the ARC build they tried. Braga said players who enjoy Delta Force, Escape from Tarkov, and PUBG were comfortable with ARC Raiders’ PvP from the start. What caught the team off guard was that players who primarily play The Last of Us gave the ARC build the highest scores among a mixed group labeled “co-op/adventure players,” which also included fans of Helldivers 2 and Elden Ring.
Braga said that helped explain Embark’s decision to market ARC Raiders as an “extraction adventure” rather than only a competitive shooter. “Yeah, that’s even why we use ‘extraction adventure game,’” he said, “and there is shooting, but we want to provide fun for all the audience.”
The comment arrives while ARC Raiders remains a major draw on Steam. Insider Gaming noted the title was the ninth most played game on Steam with more than 137,000 concurrent players at the time the report was published. The live service has continued to get updates and patches since launch, and Embark’s approach to production and cost management was the subject of a recent feature on how the team delivered a big-feeling shooter on a smaller budget, and Nexon later reported strong sales and concurrent peaks for the game.
If you’ve been watching ARC Raiders’ community and development, the contrast between hardcore PvP fans and players who prefer story-driven, cooperative experiences helps explain why the game blends extraction mechanics with scripted and cooperative moments. That balancing act is central to how Embark has positioned the title. You can read more on Embark’s development approach in how Embark said it made ARC Raiders feel like AAA on a smaller budget, and see publisher numbers in Nexon’s report on ARC Raiders sales and peaks.
Tell us what you think about ARC Raiders and its mix of PvP and cooperative content. Share your thoughts in the comments or join the conversation on our social channels. Follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.
ARC Raiders
Developed by Embark Studios
ARC Raiders is a multiplayer, extraction adventure, set in a lethal future earth, ravaged by a mysterious mechanized threat known as ARC.
- Genre: Shooter
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Modes: Multiplayer, Co-operative
- Release: 2025-10-30
- Publisher: Embark Studios
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Age Rating:
ESRB T / PEGI 16 / GRAC 15+ / USK 18 / CLASS_IND 14 / ACB M
- IGDB Rating: 89.7/100
