“Guys, the game is just boring”: Studio Embark explains why the development of ARC Raiders took so long
The team had to revisit the original concept and carry out substantial revisions.
Embark explained the prolonged development of its extraction shooter ARC Raiders. According to CEO Patrick Soderlund, the project — initially envisioned as a PvE shooter emphasizing cooperative play — was extensively reworked.
After ARC Raiders was announced in 2021 the project fell silent for a long period. A major update and a new trailer only surfaced at Gamescom 2024. It emerged that the development team faced a core issue: the original concept was simply uninspiring.
We loved every facet of what we were trying to create. Yet after a long stretch we reached the same conclusion: “Guys, the game is simply boring.”
To address the issue, Embark Studios opted to add PvPvE elements — a hybrid of PvP and PvE where players face AI opponents while competing against one another for resources.
This introduced higher stakes and a more competitive dynamic, developers say. Recent playtests have shown that the change in direction has paid off.
Source: iXBT.games
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