Embark Studios has closed the door on adding a first‑person option to Arc Raiders, arguing the game’s core systems and levels were designed around an over‑the‑shoulder viewpoint and would not hold up if the camera moved inside the player’s head.
Design director Virgil Walkins described the problem as more than cosmetic. He told PC Gamer that third‑person has been integral from the start and that trying to support first‑person would force the team to “re‑evaluate so much of how our areas are built and the way they’re laid out, because you get very specific sight lines once you go first person.”
The argument is practical, not pedantic. Arc Raiders relies on deliberate sight lines and cover interplay typical of slower extraction play, so letting players press their faces up against geometry would expose gaps in how encounters and spaces were sculpted. Games built as first‑person from day one avoid those traps because levels, enemy placement, and weapon reach are tuned for that view.
There are hybrid examples, such as Helldivers 2, and other teams have intentionally taken the FPS extraction route. Bungie’s upcoming Marathon is being made as a first‑person experience, which avoids the hard engineering and design tradeoffs Embark would face if it tried to retrofit perspective support onto Arc Raiders.
That does create a sharp choice for players: stick with the way Arc Raiders is built, where third‑person play is a foundation, or wait for a different extraction shooter created around first‑person rules. Readers wanting hands‑on impressions can read an earlier Arc Raiders play test that digs into how the third‑person camera shapes encounters.
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