Arc Raiders Scrappy The Rooster Is Real

Arc Raiders is pretty tough. When you're not being chased by metal monstrosities, you can be gunned down by a trigger-happy player while minding your own business. But just when you're sad about losing the only decent gun you had, your feathered friend Scrappy the Rooster makes you smile.

As Speranza's resident scrap scavenger, Scrappy ensures you don't go without earning any materials even if you failed to mine. It's the game's way of making sure you don't get stuck in a rut without some material for better gear. But why is this junkyard artist a chicken? It turns out that Scrappy is based on a real rooster that belongs to one of the developers.

Arc Raiders Scrappy is based on a real rooster

Pictures of a rooster named Hȧkan, who eventually became Scrappy in Arc Raiders.

In a recent blog post, Embark 3D artist Johan revealed how Scrappy was inserted into the game. “I was staying with my parents at the time—they happened to keep chickens. Mid-zoom meeting, the birds somehow snuck into the house and strutted around behind me, immediately stealing the show and derailing the meeting entirely. Among those birds was Hȧkan, the rooster who would go on to become Scrappy.”

He added that unlike other roosters, Hȧkan was friendly and cuddly. So the 3D artist decided to photoscan him and add him to the game as a minor easter egg. In the early build of the game, Hȧkan could be seen running around the canteen area. However, the Rooster got its big break when the developers required a resource producer.

An Arc Raiders raider pointing a gun at a red light.

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“We cycled through many ideas: robots, cats… robot cats! But the art team didn't have time to build them and the meeting stalled, until someone raised their hand and said, in a moment of brilliance, 'don't we have a rooster?'

Hȧkan went from being a minor easter egg to Speranza's main resource producer, Scrappy. Let this be a lesson to those of us who are worried about chasing our dreams. If no opportunity is in sight, blast into a room and create the opportunity yourself. Be like Hȧkan.