Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund has once again defended the use of AI in the studio's fantastic extraction shooter, ARC Raiders. During a recent interview, the manager explained how Embark did not shy away from hiring artists for ARC Raiders to replace them with AI, urging fans to “take a step back” and understand how the use of AI can actually help in the development of a game and be a “huge benefit to players.”
The controversial use of AI within ARC Raiders hasn't stopped Embark's second title from becoming a breakout hit in 2025. The extraction shooter took the gaming world by storm when it released in October, peaking at more than 481,000 concurrent players on Steam, receiving rave reviews from players and critics alike, and even retaining 91% of its 206 players. thought ARC Raiders was destined to fail due to its release date being in between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7neither of the two powerhouses seems to have phased Embark. While ARC Raiders has held on to much of its player base, the same cannot be said for Battlefield 6which has lost 85% of its active users in just three months.
ARC Raiders kicks off 2026 with a new set of trial challenges
ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios is kicking off 2026 with a brand new set of trial challenges for players to complete and earn new rewards.
Despite the massive success, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the shooter. Before it was even released, ARC Raiders sparked controversy over its AI use, with fans blasting Embark for implementing a text-to-speech system in some parts of the game. To be more specific, Embark has trained an AI system to replicate dialogue from real voice actors. These actors reportedly gave their full consent and were paid for their voices to be used by the system, but not everyone was thrilled with this decision. Of course, by using a text-to-speech AI feature, Embark can produce content much faster than if it needed to schedule recording sessions with the actors. But there is a clear difference between a human voice driven by emotion and an AI system that simply regurgitates written lines.
Embark CEO defends use of AI in ARC Raiders
During a recent interview with GamesBeat, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund defended Embark's use of AI in ARC Raiderswhich it also used in its first title, The finals. “We're not using AI to not have to hire people or replace people or work groups or voice actors,” Söderlund told the outlet. “People need to take a step back and understand what it is and how it can be a huge help to developers and a huge benefit to gamers. I realize it's an intricate topic and discussion.”
It's not the first time ARC Raiders' AI use has been debated in the industry, as Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani also weighed in on the controversy late last year. The Helldivers 2 the developer believes it involves two different ways of thinking. While companies like Square Enix on the one hand plan to automate 70% of their QA testing, the other has “developers who feel that their livelihood…the very fabric of their being is threatened, and therefore all AI is bad AI.” While many are adamantly against the use of AI in video games and various other media, Embark has paid the actors for the use of their voices, something Jorjani believes is important. “Let's just make sure people get paid for their work. Like, sure there's a middle ground here, come on,” the CEO said.
Hate it, love it or have no opinion about it, there's no denying that AI is here to stay and will be a huge part of video game development going forward. While ARC RaidersThe use of generative AI is relatively small, it is not the only studio that uses such systems. Call of Duty publisher Activision was recently forced to respond to AI allegations of Black Ops 7the latest post in the series. After fans noticed that some in-game artwork appeared to be AI-generated, the studio said it uses “a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible.”
- Released
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30 October 2025
- ESRB
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Teen/violence, blood
