Embark Studios is very intentional about the cosmetics it adds to its multiplayer shooter Arc Raiders, with the developer’s CEO saying that any skins introduced to the game have to fit within its highly curated universe.
In a February 6 IGN interview, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund explained that while games like Embark’s previous game, The Finals, and Fortnite can add whatever character cosmetics they want, Arc Raiders is a bit different. The difference, for Söderlund, is the game’s lore and world, which he described as being “more curated.” This curation is what prevents Arc Raiders from putting, say, The Grinch or Sonic the Hedgehog in the game.
“First and foremost, we want to make sure that everything fits the fiction of Arc Raiders, and that it’s something that sits well within the Arc Raiders universe,” Söderlund said. “I mean, there are other games, very successful games out there–The Finals being one of them–in which the IP is designed so it basically happens to be very elastic. You can do whatever the hell you want, and people are like, ‘That makes sense. It’s completely plausible.’ I can be a pink banana, and you can be whatever, and everyone’s like, ‘That makes sense. It fits the universe. No problem.’ Arc Raiders has a more curated lore, curated world, so we have to stick within boundaries slightly to a different extent than maybe The Finals or Fortnite or another game in which Batman can shoot Bart Simpson.”
That’s not to say that the Arc Raiders won’t experiment with their character designs. Söderlund explained that Embark Studios wants to “expand [the game’s] lore and art direction further.” Still, no matter what is done, it all must fit within the game’s established universe.
“What we have to do is to challenge ourselves and always make sure that we build things that have the right type of edge,” Söderlund said. “Some things just need to be OG–if there’s such a thing as that spot in the middle of what Arc Raiders is–but we also need to build things that are on the fringe of what the lore and IP can tolerate without them being a pink banana. That is something that, I think, we’ve done to some extent, but I think we can probably do more of. Again, we will probably have a slightly segregated user base when it comes to what they like, but that’s probably fine given that they’re cosmetics. That’s probably how it should be. So, yeah. That’s kind of where we are.”
Since launching on October 30 for consoles and PC, Arc Raiders has been a massive hit for Embark Studios. It’s been reviewed favorably by critics and fans alike, receiving a 9/10 in GameSpot’s Arc Raiders review. It’s also sold over 12 million copies to date, making it a very profitable project for the Swedish developer.
