3 years after its reveal, Arc Raiders reemerges as a completely different game

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

When Arc Raiders was first announced at the 2021 Game Awards, it was a free-to-play co-operative shooter. That’s changed.

It’s not unheard of for games to change direction after they are announced, with Fortnite’s transition from its Save the World mode to a battle royale during early access being one of the most prominent examples. Still, those looking forward to Arc Raiders should know that what they will be getting when the game launches next year is not what was originally shown off.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live, Embark affirmed that Arc Raiders will now be a premium-priced PvPvE extraction shooter. While the world it inhabits is the same, the intrinsic gameplay loop players experience will be different. Ahead of this announcement, I got a hands-off look at the newly retooled version of Arc Raiders in action. Although the drastic shift from what was originally promised is concerning, Arc Raiders does look like it could be a tense take on the extraction shooter.

Changing directions

The one thing that developer Embark is adamant has stayed the same about Arc Raiders is its world. It’s set on Earth hundreds of years in the future, where the surface is desolate due to an ecological collapse. People are crowded into underground cities, but are struggling to acquire resources. Players must venture out into these wastelands as Raiders looking for loot to bring home. While that premise would have fit in a straight-up cooperative shooter, it works quite well for an extraction shooter too. The world also has a colorful, sci-fi look, even if Embark still wants to keep it gritty and grounded.

While the first trailer for Arc Raiders featured some bombastic shootouts, the gameplay footage I saw felt much more slowly paced. If you’ve played an extraction shooter like Escape from Tarkov before, you’ll recognize the basics of Arc Raiders‘ new gameplay loop. Players slowly survey the surface of Earth for loot while also