ARC Raiders devs will keep developing PvP despite the game's strong PvE-oriented audience

Embark Studios developers behind ARC Raiders have admitted they were shocked – and pleasantly surprised – by player behavior since launch. The game's 14 million-strong community has earned a reputation as one of the friendliest in the extraction shooter genre, with players often organizing impromptu concerts on in-game instruments, running tournaments, and hosting community events instead of hunting each other down.

All of that stands in stark contrast to what the team witnessed during the game's testing phase.

Design lead Virgil Watkins, speaking to PC Gamer, said the playtests painted a completely different picture.

"It is not at all how it was working in our tests, either for ourselves or the previous tests," he said. "It was hyper, hyper aggressive in those tests, people never worked together."

As a PvPvE game, ARC Raiders was always designed around the idea of players teaming up to tackle tougher challenges. The game's original concept – before it transitioned to a free-to-play model – was a purely co-op raid experience with no PvP at all. That makes the level of cooperation seen in the live community all the more surprising to the developers.

"This kind of surprised us, in exactly how many people latch onto, and are having fun with, these [PvE] elements of the game," Watkins said. "So it certainly encourages us to lean more toward giving opportunities to have friendly and fun interactions."

Embark Studios has already outlined its priorities for future updates: a focus on PvE activities, a trading system, and a fully explorable hub area. Still, Watkins noted that the team remains committed to keeping PvP balanced – "regardless of the formation of this PvE heavy audience." There will always be players who want to fight, and their experience matters too.

"You're always going to have people who have the motivation to fight, because there are people who just like PvP. We have this cohort of players who want to play more peacefully, or roleplay, ensuring that we don't harm their experience either."

At the same time, Embark respects players who deliberately cause chaos – that playstyle is something the developers are equally happy to support.

The next update, Shrouded Sky, for ARC Raiders is set to launch next week, bringing a new ARC threat, a new map condition, and a range of other changes.