ARC Raiders design lead Virgil Watkins has revealed that the game almost featured an auction house-style trading system. While it eventually was cut from ARC Raiders, Watkins believed it would have been a game-changer, and not necessarily for the better.
As an extraction shooter, it’s somewhat surprising that ARC Raiders doesn’t have any official way to trade with players. Ultimately, much of the gameplay loop is about collecting loot, and so being able to sell the most valuable finds to others feels as though it would be a sure thing. At the moment, players are only able to drop loot on the floor, which others can then pick up. It works, but it’s not exactly an official trading system. And if a player decides they want to renege on the deal, keep all the loot, and shoot the other player, then there’s no way to prevent that.
ARC Raiders’ Biggest Streamer Just Threatened to Quit After Being Dominated by Cheaters
ARC Raiders’ biggest streamer just threatened to quit the game after encountering numerous cheaters and calls for Embark to make major changes.
ARC Raiders Cut an Auction House-Style Trading Feature, and Here’s Why
Speaking to GamesRadar+, ARC Raiders design director Virgil Watkins revealed that an official trading system was “partially built” for the game before being abandoned. “We put a lot of very, very deliberate effort into making the game about the items,” Watkins said. “We previously explored and even partially built a trading system like [an auction house]. But what it ended up doing is it turned the game into just being about coins. Going in and finding items that are worth the most value, changing them in [for coins], and just buying the things you want. Now you have very little care about going in, exploring the correct location, and searching the right containers, or feeling cool that, ‘Oh, finally, I needed this thing, and now I can go do the other thing I wanted to do with it.'” In short, it changed the fundamental ARC Raiders gameplay loop and how players approached loot, leading to it being left out of the full release. How close it was to completion, though, remains a mystery.
Although ARC Raiders doesn’t have an official trading system, Watkins reaffirms that “it’s fine to trade by just dropping something on the floor, and you can pick it up.” However, while Watkins describes an auction house as entering “very risky territory” for the game, the current system isn’t quite enough for him. “We really want to do an offer where you hold it out and someone actually interacts with the thing in your hand to take it from you,” Watkins said. “And it’s kind of a small thing, but it feels a lot better than, ‘Here’s your thing I threw on the floor for you.’ So I think it’s things on those ends.” This would be an interesting evolution of the current system, which essentially relies on player goodwill to not shoot each other.
We previously explored and even partially built a trading system like [an auction house]. But what it ended up doing is it turned the game into just being about coins.
Even without an auction house, players haven’t stopped getting creative when trading items with other players. There was one instance where an ARC Raiders player chose to play as a trader NPC. Rather than fighting, they spent their time trading and haggling for dropped items with other players. While this is a fun concept, it also shows that there is definitely demand for a trading system beyond what little already exists. As it stands, it doesn’t seem likely to happen.
While a new trading system may not be in the works right now, ARC Raiders recently revealed that there are multiple new maps coming to the game later this year. Over the next few months, the game will have the opportunity to keep its strong momentum rolling, and the early content could determine how many players stick around for the long haul.
- Released
-
October 30, 2025
- ESRB
-
Teen / Violence, Blood
