In early May, players were able to test the upcoming shooter ARC Raiders. The game received positive feedback, and even the publisher was surprised by the success of the test.
What kind of game is this? ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter that focuses on PvEvP combat in a third-person perspective and is developed by Embark Studios (The Finals). The game is set to be released in 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
From April 30 to May 4, 2025, a tech test of ARC Raiders took place, allowing players worldwide to experience the gameplay of the shooter. The fortunate players invited by the developers to the test were able to invite 2 friends each. As a result, the short test peaked at over 21,500 players on Steam (via SteamDB).
MMO giant Nexon surprised by the success of the test
This is what the publisher says: The publisher of ARC Raiders is the South Korean company Nexon, which is known for MMOs and free-to-play games such as MapleStory and the loot shooter The First Descendant.
On May 13, Nexon released a report (via PDF) on the revenues of the first quarter of 2025. In it, the company also spoke about the recent tech test of ARC Raiders: “A large, global tech test conducted earlier this month far exceeded our expectations regarding key metrics, including the wishlist on Steam.”
The company also stated that the popularity on YouTube and Twitch and the overall player engagement were very good: “With very limited advertising, the game was the sixth most-watched game on Twitch and surpassed 20 million views on YouTube.”
Post-apocalyptic battle of man against machine
What is ARC Raiders about? ARC Raiders takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth is attacked by malicious, heavily armed machines known as ARCs.
The ARCs destroy all life on the surface of the Earth, making it impossible to inhabit the planet. The surviving humans have retreated to underground bunkers and established a settlement there.
However, because there are limited resources in the underground settlements, brave Raiders venture to the surface and fight against the powerful machines as well as other Raiders for loot.
In addition to ARC Raiders, another extraction shooter called Marathon is set to release in 2025, but it was received much more negatively by many players after an initial alpha. A YouTuber believes he knows what Embark does better with their game: MMO expert is known for sharp criticism, explaining why ARC Raiders succeeds where Marathon fails
