Embark Did Not Expect ARC Raiders to “Become as Huge as It Did;” Thinks the Game “Can and Should” Live for a Long Time
When ARC Raiders was released in October last year, chances are, people didn’t expect the extraction shooter to be this successful. I mean it’s from a new studio, pushing a new IP in a crowded genre.
But soon after launch, ARC Raiders exploded in popularity both on consoles and PC. Believe it or not, the studio didn’t expect the extraction shooter to become as big a game as it is, unlike other studios that expect their game to be a global hit when it’s released.
This is surprising since Embark is comprised of former developers at DICE, who are no strangers to shipping multi-million-selling titles from the Battlefield franchise.
Embark Expects ARC Raiders to Be Around for a “Long Time”
In an exclusive interview with MP1st before the Frozen Trail update was released, Embark Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal answered our question about how studios balance over-investing in a game with providing content for the player base.
MP1st: From a player’s perspective, when a game explodes in popularity, the immediate reaction is often, ‘How did you not anticipate this and have an extensive content pipeline ready to go?’ But looking at the industry graveyard of live-service titles that launched with huge roadmaps only to shut down months later, over-investing early can be a big risk. How do you balance the fear of building an expensive live-service ghost town against the operational reality of scrambling to feed an unexpectedly massive, hungry player base?
Grøndal answered, “First of all, we did not expect the game to become as huge as it did, which is a great challenge to have. We’re also fortunate that we built the game in the first place with a relatively small team. Since launch we’ve scaled up quite significantly, and we’re still growing the team. For us it is important that we don’t outgrow who we are and what makes us good, so we’re trying a sensible approach. Transitioning into a live service title comes with its own separate sets of challenges, so we need to figure out what works for us and not try to follow what other games are doing, rather find our own way here. With the Frozen Trail update we found some answers to those questions, but we have improvements to do as we see ARC Raiders as something that can and should live for a long time.”
With how receptive Embark has been to ARC Raiders’ player base, we’re also expecting the title to thrive for a long time. Hopefully, players will be patient with the studio as it releases more updates and content throughout its lifespan.
In the same interview, Embark told us the challenge in PvE is “not undermining the premise of the game,” as they think of updates for the mode.
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