The city where the rest of humanity lives in ARC Raiders serves so far as the game’s menu. Until now, it could only be perceived as a living background, but a game designer of the game reveals that players could explore the location much closer soon.
What has the game designer confirmed? So far, Speranza, the underground colony and home of the raiders in ARC Raiders, has served for some cutscenes and as the background of the menu. Players find that there is still a lot of untapped potential behind the portrayed community and the design of the place. But they are not alone in this opinion.
ARC Raiders Game Design Director Virgil Watkins from Embark revealed in an interview with PCGamesN that the team wants to further exploit this potential and has “100% already discussed” it. Because Speranza could serve wonderfully as a living and walkable hub for players, through which they could interact more closely with merchants and explore the colony.
Speranza as a hub and menu combined
What is Embark and its developers’ stance on Speranza as a hub? The game design director can certainly understand the enthusiasm around the idea and agrees that Speranza could really shine as a hub.
“I personally love the vibe and aesthetics of a walkable hub,” Watkins tells PCGamesN, but so far, other features have taken precedence for the team during development. However, the developers have not completely abandoned the idea:
“That’s something we’ve talked about and will continue to talk about, and I believe the team definitely has an interest in it. It’s more about when the right time is to open that door.”
How would the team envision such a hub in the game? If they pursue the idea of transforming Speranza into a walkable colony, previous features and in-game mechanics should not suffer but only be expanded. As game design director, Watkins explains what the team would need to consider when establishing it:
I would want to keep the menu so that it can be used quickly and efficiently, instead of having to run to Celeste and then to my Raider room and then realizing: ‘Oops, I forgot this here with Shani.’ But of course, the immersion factor also plays a role.
What does the community say about the Speranza hub? In a Reddit thread, the new idea for Speranza is discussed. Here, based on the most upvoted comments, it becomes clear that the player base finds Watkins’ approach of a kind of “hybrid hub” very sensible.
Players do not want to forgo quick access via the menu but still want to be able to walk through and explore Speranza. Additionally, they propose further possibilities for player interactions, such as a bar to hang out, mini-games, and mutual group finding.
Whether this ultimately becomes part of the developers’ plans remains unclear for now. However, we know that Embark listens to its community. As one player lamented that he could not fully showcase his special collection in ARC Raiders, the team took care of the duck fan and developed a solution: The developers of ARC Raiders fulfill an unusual fan request, flooding your home with hundreds of rubber ducks
