We all remember the Arc Raiders reveal trailer. A group of raiders running and super jumping towards a massive arch at high speed with an absolute banger playing in the background. It wasn't clear what the gameplay loop would be, but the overall atmosphere and aesthetic piqued our interest. We eventually learned that Embark wanted to take a boss-rush approach, but we eventually veered into the extraction shooter genre.
It was clearly a good call, as Arc Raiders is currently one of the most popular shooters on the market, with more players than giants like Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6. However, this pivot took a lot of time and effort. Where do you even start when reworking a project into another genre? According to production manager Caio Braga, it starts with the speed of the game.
Braga spoke to PC Gamer at a GDC 2026 and revealed that the biggest change the developers made to the game was to “slow everything down” by about 60 percent. This is evident when playing the game now, with its slow and deliberate movements and the stamina bar that prevents you from zooming across the map.
The initial fast-paced boss-rush formula simply didn't work, forcing the developers to make a major pivot in the game's genre. However, to stay in line with the tenets of the extraction shooter genre, they felt the need to slow down. The lower speed also increases the tension of the game when you face Arcs or enemy players.
The developers looked back at their previous game, The Finals and many others. Eventually they found the perfect balance for the game, making it what it is today. “We stopped forcing the game [or games] we wanted and we looked at the game we had,” he explained during the GDC panel.
While we may not have the speed and super jumps from the reveal trailer, Embark clearly found the perfect formula to take the Arc Raiders to the top of the extraction ladder. This probably wouldn't have been possible if they didn't risk sacrificing their original vision for the game.
- Released
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30 October 2025
- ESRB
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Teen/violence, blood
- Developer
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Embark Studios
- Publisher
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Embark Studios
