Despite the recent launch of Black Ops 7, the player count for ARC Raiders continues to trend upwards. Embark Studios’ free-to-play extraction shooter was released on October 30 and has been experiencing unwavering growth ever since. With a focus on cooperative and competitive PvPvE gameplay, which emphasizes resource collection, survival elements, and large-scale encounters, ARC Raiders was queued up for success from day one.
Coming from the developer of The Finals, the extraction shooter attracted fans of that incredibly popular free-to-play FPS, as well as gamers who enjoy the experiences offered by Escape from Tarkov and The Division. ARC Raiders even passed Helldivers 2‘s concurrent player record just 10 days after launch. Its sci-fi setting and engaging gameplay loop have helped the game maintain consistent engagement since release, though many expected that to dip just a little with the highly anticipated launch, just in time for the weekend, of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on November 14.
ARC Raiders’ Player Count Was Unfazed by Black Ops 7 Launch
Rather than the expected dip, however, ARC Raiders surpassed its previous record high of 416,000 players on Steam and hit a new peak of 481,966 this past weekend. And that number only reflects the player count on Valve’s platform, while Embark Studios’ extraction shooter is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as well. The new player count peak represents ARC Raider’s strongest weekend performance so far. This is significant not only because it was competing directly with the launch of Black Ops 7 but because the game is going on three weeks old, a time when player numbers often begin to normalize or even decline.
This encouraging uptick in numbers for ARC Raiders comes as Black Ops 7 is being review bombed and receiving a generally negative reception from players online. Various community discussions about Activision’s newest Call of Duty game highlight dissatisfaction with performance, the use of AI, and, predominantly, the design, content, and technical requirements of Black Ops 7’s campaign. Loudly across social media, some fans of the long-lived franchise are panning BO7 as having the “worst campaign of all time.”
In contrast, ARC Raiders experienced rising numbers and strong weekend performance even in the face of the launch of one of the year’s most anticipated shooters. This reflects perhaps the community’s disillusionment with Black Ops 7 or, just as likely, Embark Studio’s ability to create content that encourages player engagement. Just the day before BO7’s launch, ARC Raiders launched its “North Line” update, which introduced a Community Unlock Event that was completed in 24 hours, giving players access to the new Stella Montis map. This area, a secluded research facility, was reached by rebuilding the vast tunnel network located beneath Speranza. Upon arrival, players encountered new enemies, quests, and armaments to check out.
Of course, the new Call of Duty game didn’t have just ARC Raiders to contend with on its launch weekend. Black Ops 7’s 24-hour launch numbers fell noticeably short of Battlefield 6’s 24-hour peak. Even now, four days later, the game has reached a peak of 100,332, a third of Battlefield 6’s number. This is also keeping in mind that the numbers on SteamDB are for Black Ops 6, Warzone, and Black Ops 7 combined. However, it is still early days for Activision’s shooter, and things may begin trending upwards as faithful fans of the franchise give it a chance. And if nothing else, players who want to stay competitive in Warzone and level up their guns may feel like they need to play Black Ops 7.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
Source: SteamDB
