Arc Raiders

Arc Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure developed by Embark Studios, the Stockholm-based team founded by former DICE developers. Embark first announced the game at The Game Awards in 2021 as a cooperative, player-versus-environment shooter. Its later presentation changed substantially: the project became an extraction-focused experience in which squads contend with both hostile machines and other scavenging players. That evolution is important to Arc Raiders’ identity, because success depends not only on shooting accurately but also on deciding when to risk a deeper expedition and when to escape with collected equipment. The setting is a future Earth made dangerous by ARC, a machine force that controls the surface. Human communities survive below ground, including Speranza, the settlement associated with the Raiders. Players take the role of Raiders who leave that refuge to search abandoned locations for weapons, components, valuables, and information. The surface is not a static shooting range. ARC units patrol it, react to threats, and create changing tactical problems, while the presence of rival human crews turns every valuable discovery into a possible ambush. A successful run ends with extraction; failure can mean losing what the Raider carried. That structure gives Arc Raiders its central tension. Combat can be profitable, but noise and ammunition use may attract machines or reveal a team’s position. Avoidance, route planning, and negotiation can therefore matter as much as weapon handling. Players assemble loadouts before deploying, gather resources during a raid, and use the results to improve future preparation. The game’s crafting and progression systems are tied to this loop rather than to a conventional linear campaign. Missions and contracts provide concrete objectives, but the memorable outcome of a match often comes from an unscripted encounter: a crew finding rare loot, hearing an ARC threat, and choosing between immediate escape and one more dangerous search. Embark’s design also reflects its interest in readable, physical worlds. The ruined surface combines industrial structures, open terrain, and places where cover or elevation can shape a fight. Sound, visibility, and movement help communicate danger, making an expedition feel like a deliberate gamble rather than a sequence of disconnected arenas. Arc Raiders is therefore defined by its setting and loop: survivors in Speranza repeatedly confront a machine-controlled surface, competing with rival humans while trying to return alive. Its appeal lies in turning each raid into a story created by risk, scarcity, and an uncertain decision to stay each time.