Extraction Shooters have previously belonged to the niche games. However, ARC Raiders could change that and demonstrates with a new milestone that it is not necessarily about the genre.
What milestone has ARC Raiders reached? On November 8, 2025, at 8:25 PM CET, ARC Raiders reached a new 24-hour peak of 416,517 concurrent players (see SteamDB, as of November 9, 2025, 9:30 AM). This places the Extraction Shooter currently at 5th place among the most played games, just ahead of Apex Legends with a 24-hour peak of 230,599 and just behind Battlefield 6 with 426,535 concurrent players at its 24-hour peak (see SteamDB).
Since Friday, ARC Raiders has been in a duel with the shooter regarding the player peak within 24 hours, which the Extraction Shooter briefly won during the night from Friday to Saturday. At that point, Battlefield 6 had around 318,000 players and Arc Raiders had 329,000 concurrent Raiders (see SteamDB).
The fact that ARC Raiders only released on October 30, 2025, and has since shown a continuous upward trend proves that Extraction Shooters do not have to be niche if they hit the nerve of the players.
“Best Game in Its Class!”
What makes ARC Raiders so popular? The Steam reviews also speak for themselves and show how successfully the new Extraction Shooter has performed thus far. 89% of the currently 59,947 reviews are positive, which gives the game a “very positive” rating (see Steam, as of November 9, 2025, 9:50 AM).
In the reviews, players particularly praise the design of the world, the atmosphere, and the sound design. The balanced performance of the game is often praised. The accessibility for newcomers and the gameplay loop are also seen as outstanding.
Often highlighted are the relaxed and friendly community along with the sophisticated PvE mechanics. User Dschorden even refers to ARC Raiders in his review as the “best game in its class” and celebrates that both genre newcomers and veterans can enjoy themselves here.
Many users inevitably compare ARC Raiders with Escape from Tarkov, which has been in early access since 2017 and has set benchmarks for the genre. Many reviews say that ARC Raiders is a welcome and fresh change and considerably more enjoyable to play, whereas Tarkov offers more depth.
However, this makes ARC Raiders particularly interesting for those who might usually not engage with the genre and would prefer a more accessible gameplay experience.
The community is one of the biggest advantages that ARC Raiders has garnered so far. Not only are the developers particularly community-oriented, but the player base is also very relaxed and does a lot to ensure that the game remains fair. Some even take it to the extreme and hunt down those who spoil the fun for others: “You can have the loot. My reward is justice”: players of ARC Raiders appoint themselves as sheriffs and hunt down crooks
