ARC Raiders Dev on Potential PvE Mode Future: The Challenge Is Not “Undermining the Premise of the Game”
With the PvE mode public test in ARC Raiders now concluded, the team at Embark Studios is diving deep into the feedback collected over the week-long test. While the community has been divided on whether the game needs a PvE-only mode, one concern is that it could compromise the game’s core experience. Well, Embark is well aware of that challenge, which is why they’re taking the month to really look at the feedback they’ve gotten around the mode before deciding on the future of things.
Now you might be wondering what that means, and we have a bit of an answer, as the studio recently sat down to answer some of our questions about the PvE test.
Before Embark Decides on PvE for ARC Raiders, They Need to Dig and Understand What the Need Is for It
If you thought the decision to add a PvE mode would be easy for Embark Studios, think again: despite positive (and negative) feedback from the recent test, the studio isn’t ready to make a concrete choice yet. The team shared this in a recent PvE blog post shortly after the test ended, noting that the community has been rather polarizing around the mode.
“As mentioned, we need a bit of time to understand what the data is telling us, and what our community is saying. On a surface reading, we know that the test has been polarizing. As always, our decision on how to proceed will prioritize the overall health and enjoyability of the game.
We don’t yet know what the outcome of the data analysis will be, but we expect to be able to follow up with further information in November.
Thanks once again for participating in the test and leaving your feedback. It is essential for us to be able to make informed decisions for the development of the game.”
But it’s not just the community that felt divided; for those who remember the game’s history, it started as a PvE-only cooperative looter before pivoting to an extraction shooter. Embark detailed much of the reasoning behind the shift to an extraction shooter in their video doc a few years back, but it boiled down to the current game not working with the vision they wanted.
“It didn’t work. The larger recipe for the game wasn’t there. And again, we couldn’t replicate the sessions consistently enough,” Stefan Strandberg, Embark’s CCO (formerly ARC Raider’s creative director) said in the video doc back in 2025.
Despite a year since launch and players expressing interest in PvE, the studio has remained skeptical because of earlier reasoning that led them to pivot to a more PvP-centric experience. Embark executive producer Aleksander Grøndal tells us:
“Now that we’ve concluded the PvE matchmaking toggle test, we’re doing a deep dive into what that means. Of course, we were a bit skeptical about bringing such a mode to the game for historical reasons, but now we need to discuss what we want to do going forward.”
When we followed up to ask whether tuning the game for PvPvE accidentally stumbled into a compelling PvE hook—or if the community simply evolved into something the studio hadn’t initially anticipated—Grøndal noted that it is likely a mix of both:
MP1st: Do you think tuning it for PvPvE ended up accidentally finding that potential PvE hook/loop, or was it more so, because of the kind of community the game ended up drawing in, that perhaps the studio was not necessarily “wrong, but simply didn’t expect that kind of social engagement to come from it?
Grøndal: That’s hard to say, but perhaps a bit of both? I think the game has an appeal in its nature and that a certain player type wants to play the game without the stress, you know? Perhaps this is more a signal that the game could support more player types, and we need to figure out how to support that. The challenge, of course, is how we do that without undermining the premise of the game itself.
But what would ARC Raiders look like if it kept PvE as a mainstay mode? How would the studio maintain that premise while also addressing content between the two modes in the future? Well, that’s something we asked the team about, but given a decision has yet to be made on whether or not to keep the mode, they did expand further on what kind of questions they need to answer first when it comes to understanding PvE.
MP1st: Assuming all goes well with the PvE testing and it becomes a mainstay, how does the studio plan on addressing the content pipeline between the two modes in the future?
Grøndal: That is exactly what we need to consider now, but before we get to the content discussion, we need to understand what the need is here. Is it more a chill side mode you can play between more intense PvPvE rounds? Is it more a challenge mode that you can test your skills against AI? Or perhaps it’s a full experience with PvE only? These are some of the questions we need to dig into before we decide how to go forward. All options will have different implications on how we build future game updates.
An interesting answer that suggests there may be much more work on PvE if it does, in fact, become a permanent mode. Certainly more than what we tested, though even that is an experience Embark is likely considering if the feedback supports it.
I recently published my own thoughts on ARC Raiders PvE mode, which I found fun, though I noted it needed a more PvE-centric, risk-based experience to bring it more in line with the PvP experience, without, well, being PvP. Either way, I’m in the camp that the mode could work, but I also didn’t want it to be just “easy”; I wanted to see Embark evolve it into something with as much risk and reward at its core experience.
For now, we wait to see what Embark ultimately decides from the data they’ve collected, and what’s next for the franchise when that decision gets shared next month.
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I’d be far more likely to buy the game with a dedicated PVE mode simy because of how toxic any kind of PVP game simply is. Theres a reason I left every single competitive shooter and looter shooter. I don’t mind the OPTION to play PVP, and would likely do so. But I don’t want a game where that is the ONLY option. Co-op modes are often more fun, less stressful, and more engaging. And you can build a good group of people in co-op and venture into PVP together, rather than having to sift through the toxicity of competitive only modes to find enjoyable people to play with
I’ve never developed a game but I’m not sure why it’s such an issue to implement a PvE mode. I understand that it will split the player base but it’s already split, due to ABMM. As a PvE “care bear”, The reason I left months ago was because people were gaming that system, coming into “Care bear” lobbies and wreaking havoc.
Adding the toggle for PvE was the best week i had. It was nice to take down the Matriarch and Queen without having to worry about a free loadout guy at the extract.
I’ve never developed a game but I’m not sure why it’s such an issue to implement a PvE mode. I understand that it will split the player base but it’s already split, due to ABMM. As a PvE “care bear”, The reason I left months ago was because people were gaming that system, coming into “Care bear” lobbies and wreaking havoc.
Adding the toggle for PvE was the best week i had. It was nice to take down the Matriarch and Queen without having to worry about a free loadout guy at the extract.
When they released the pve for a few days the numbers doubled. Almost had 3 times as much. When it got shut down the numbers dropped drastically. If that doesn’t tell them that the people want it then the game will just die. There is more pve players than pvp. Thats a fact. The pvp in the game makes no sense tbh. We have bots hunting us down yet we’re killing each other??? I had fun with pve mode. I refuse to play the pvp mode. To many cheaters and campers.
They should consider creating a new faction of exiles that tough it out above ground or make homes out of different tunnel system. Or maybe an old/new “government” that has emerged that is at war with Speranza, but they send uniformed soldiers to the surface to collect loot and hunt raiders. They can mimic behavior of players, avoiding arc, looting, checking out noise. That way more of the tension and gameplay loop is preserved without the unpredictability of player behavior. Or just bipedal Arc troopers if it’s too difficult having AI potentially fighting each other. It could also be implemented in PvPvE so no development is wasted one version.
You reward scumbag players who camp and lack pvp skills by letting the players who enjoy grinding and the pve aspect to lose their hard work to them for the sake of what? Your game is dying and even the new patch feels like a retold format of a cash grab. You dont care what the fans want you just want people to play and pay for silly skins and now rewards. Thanks for listening to the community. As someone who has scanned countless threads. The only people complaing of a PVE button were the slackers and cheaters that wouldn’t be able to get the cool gear that many people put hard work in cause they lack skill or are lazy.
Pve only is ok but I prefer mixed. I solo’d a bastion and have 10 people loot it, I used a key a 3 people entered the room after 8 closed the door. Normally I would kill people like that, but with pve only, you cant