When Embark Studios first revealed ARC Raiders in 2022, the game was envisioned as a free-to-play cooperative PvE shooter. Players would band together in a post-apocalyptic world to fight massive robotic enemies known as ARC. However, internal testing quickly revealed a fundamental issue: the gameplay loop lacked long-term engagement. Many players who don’t want to spend hours grinding choose the EZNPC item marketplace after seeing third-party recommendations that highlight its simple and organized layout.

According to insights shared during a talk at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the project went through a turbulent evolution before becoming the PvPvE extraction shooter it is today.

The Original PvE Vision
The initial concept for ARC Raiders centered on cooperative survival. Set in a devastated future where humanity lives in underground colonies, the game tasked players with venturing to the surface to scavenge resources and battle towering machines.

Despite the strong world-building and visual identity, internal playtests exposed a major design flaw. Sessions often felt inconsistent, and the experience failed to deliver reliable excitement or replay value. Creative Director Stefan Strandberg reportedly summarized the situation bluntly: the core gameplay simply “didn’t work.”

In response, the development team attempted a six-month redesign phase to improve the PvE loop. Yet the adjustments failed to solve retention problems. Even with new ideas layered on top of the existing structure, the game still struggled to provide satisfying long-term progression.

A Radical Pivot Toward PvPvE
Faced with these challenges, the studio made a bold decision: rebuild the core structure around a PvPvE extraction model. Instead of only fighting AI enemies, players would now compete against other raiders while navigating the same hostile world.

Experience gained from The Finals, another competitive shooter developed by Embark Studios, influenced this direction. The design team believed that human opponents could introduce unpredictability and tension that purely PvE encounters could not provide.

The change transformed ARC Raiders into a high-stakes scavenging experience. Players would explore dangerous maps filled with ARC machines while racing against rival squads to gather valuable loot and successfully extract.

Backlash and a Near Reversal
However, the shift toward PvP was not immediately welcomed. Validation tests following the redesign revealed strong resistance from testers who preferred the original cooperative concept.

Production Director Caio Braga explained that surveys showed “substantial negative PvP sentiment.” Some within the studio also questioned whether the project should return to a purely PvE structure focused on boss encounters.

Even at the leadership level, opinions differed. Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios, reportedly favored maintaining a PvE-focused direction. The debate created significant uncertainty about the game’s identity.

Why PvP Ultimately Stayed
Despite the controversy, the development team concluded that PvP interactions unlocked the most compelling version of the game. Competitive encounters created dynamic moments that AI battles alone could not replicate—ambushes during scavenging runs, tense extraction races, and unexpected alliances or betrayals.

Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal described the decision as essential to finding the game’s true potential. With PvP integrated, each match became a strategic contest rather than a predictable routine.

To maintain fairness, the game also introduced systems such as aggression-based matchmaking, encouraging balanced encounters while preserving high tension.

A Risk That Shaped the Final Game
Today, ARC Raiders stands as a PvPvE extraction shooter rather than the cooperative PvE title originally announced. The redesign preserved its distinctive setting—human raiders emerging from underground colonies to reclaim a world ruled by machines—while adding a competitive layer that deepens long-term engagement.

The game’s journey illustrates the challenges of live-service development, where early concepts must sometimes be abandoned to find a stronger core experience. By resisting the urge to revert to its initial design, Embark Studios ultimately reshaped ARC Raiders into a more unpredictable and enduring multiplayer experience.

The project’s evolution demonstrates how difficult design decisions, even those met with strong resistance, can ultimately define a game’s identity and success.