ARC Raiders is not the first successful shooter from the developers of Embark. Now, they talk about their decision to not go with Free2Play again, and explain what has changed.
What was the first shooter? The developers of ARC Raiders achieved great success in 2025, but it is not the first shooter they have released. Almost exactly two years ago, the developers of Embark launched the arena shooter The Finals.
In a futuristic arena, players could control candidates who eliminated each other in a kind of e-sports competition while trying to earn as much money as possible. Unlike ARC Raiders, the shooter is free-to-play and can be downloaded anytime from Steam.
However, for ARC Raiders, the developers consciously decided against the free model, which also changed the contents of the title.
Here you can see more about Embark’s first shooter:
Gameplay Changes Due to Pricing
What has changed due to the pricing? In a new episode of their behind-the-scenes video project on YouTube, the developers discussed their decision. They also explain which elements have changed as a result.
The developers explain that due to the pricing, it has become “dramatically easier” to develop the game. According to their explanation, for a free title, you first have to win over players. They must be “invested” in the title for them to later afford microtransactions.
For this, some mechanics would require more grind. However, they did not want this in ARC Raiders, which is why the pricing allowed them to respect the players’ time.
Which areas does this affect? Design Director Virgil Watkins explains:
In crafting, there are no more timers to wait for, and the amounts of items we ask you to gather are a bit more reasonable; effort and reward fit together a bit better. This has helped greatly, but on the other hand, because we brought the game to market with a certain price, we still need monetization options that do not feel exploitative. That is also an interesting challenge.
Virgil Watkins via gamesindustry.biz
Without the pricing, players would likely have to gather more items for their quests, and crafting would take a certain amount of time or be otherwise limited to keep players engaged longer.
The business model of ARC Raiders fit perfectly, and the shooter became the publisher Nexon’s most successful launch. Besides the business model, the success is probably also due to the fact that players are not just focused on PvP: “You can have the loot. My reward is justice”: Players of ARC Raiders appoint themselves as sheriffs, hunting down criminals
