ARC Raiders Dev Acknowledges 'Strong Appetite' for PvE Content

As the ARC Raiders community continues to engage in a fiery debate about PvP and PvE, a developer at Embark Studios has said there is a “strong appetite” for the latter. While ARC Raiders started out as a PvE-only game, akin to Helldivers 2 or Deep Rock Galactic, development eventually shifted to include PvP, and its addition is likely to be one of the reasons why Embark’s most recent title has become a huge hit over the last five months.

ARC Raiders isn’t the first video game to include both PvE and PvP, and it definitely won’t be the last. But, for some reason, the shooter has somehow managed to divide its community into two halves: those who only engage in the ongoing war against the ARC and those who are simply on the hunt for other Raiders. Embark says there’s a good mix of players who engage in both PvE and PvP, but ARC Raiders‘ aggression-based matchmaking allows those who don’t want to fight other Raiders to be placed into lobbies with other similar players. It’s not a foolproof system, as even Embark has said there’s “no such thing” as a friendly lobby, but the matchmaking has become a core reason as to why the community has divided itself between PvE and PvP.

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ARC Raiders Dev Says There’s a “Strong Appetite” for PvE Content

Since ARC Raiders started as a PvE-only game, many believe this is the core focus of developer Embark Studios. Earlier this year, a new ‘Shared Watch’ event rewarded players for working together, further encouraging PvE over PvP. This once again left players divided, as those who regularly partake in PvP felt as though they were being left out. However, in a new interview with Pocket Tactics, design director Virgil Watkins says players have a “strong appetite” for PvE in ARC Raiders. “One thing we’ve seen, for example, is how strongly players are engaging with PvE elements,” Watkins told the outlet.

The developer then says that engagement around ARC Raiders‘ PvE elements has been “somewhat surprising” and is even influencing how it plans to expand further on that style of content. Thankfully, it looks like Embark hasn’t forgotten about those who prefer PvP, as Watkins says that the studio is planning PvE content alongside new gameplay, map updates, and experiences for players who lean more into the PvP side of things. He also notes how “the balance between PvE and PvP is very intentional.” Watkins explains that ARC Raiders is “designed around that tension and uncertainty, where cooperation and competition can exist in the same space.”

This isn’t the first time that Embark has said it plans to amp up the PvE content in ARC Raiders. Earlier this year, Watkins told GamesRadar that the studio plans to “escalate the scale” of its PvE enemies. With the two largest ARCs in the game, the Queen and Matriarch, now being handled by players with ease, Embark is aiming to ramp up the difficulty with new large-scale enemies. Embark also admitted that it didn’t anticipate entire servers working together to take down the game’s bosses, which often leads to large ARCs being defeated far too quickly and not enough loot to go around.

Embark is currently gearing up to release the highly anticipated Flashpoint update for ARC Raiders this week, which will see the addition of a new map condition, a new ARC threat, an update to Scrappy, and the Shredder leaving the confines of Stella Montis. For those who do have a heavy focus on PvE, April’s Riven Tides update will add a new large ARC enemy type to the game, presumably being an even deadlier threat than the Queen or Matriarch.