An Embark Studios creation, otherwise known as Arc Raiders, has seen a large amount of growth in popularity. Currently achieving concurrent 700,000 players a day only being released October 30, 2025. Usually when games launch the targeted demographic is usually who play the game most, comic buffs, People who like sports games, Person v Person shooter, person v. environment. Arc Raiders is known as an “extraction shooter.”
Extraction shooters let the user engage in an open world among other live players where the objective is to survive, loot, and extract yourself from the situation. When you load into the game, there is a timer between 17 and 29 minutes. When the timer hits 10 minutes, an automated voice speaks and tells you that you need to return to “Speranza” (home base) before the timer expires. Otherwise you will become dust, adding an additional challenge Raiders must account for. When extracting, there are designated elevators, or metros that you must call and defend yourself from anything for 1 minute before the doors open, and you have 2 minutes seconds to hit the button.
These extraction zones can be sophisticated with other players trying to extract or ARC defending the exit. Though these challenges seem like a lot there is one more you must account for in order to make it out alive. Extraction zones close throughout the game, meaning there may only be one exit for the remaining players where they can choose to extract friendly or risk their “goop” (game talk for “loot”) in an attempt to extract with more.
We interviewed current student of Park Slope Collegiate and player of Arc Raiders, John Davilar, to find out more.
What makes Arc Raiders a top attraction to you and to so many others?
John: The game has a feature called “proximity chat”, it is where you can speak to other players as if they were in your party. This feature makes the game feel more realistic in ways no other game has.
How often do you play arc raiders?
John: Everyday, for four hours.
What is fun about playing Arc Raiders?
Arc Raiders is fun because every match feels different. Players explore various maps such as “stella montis” and “buried city”, all including different events and scenery. Although arc raiders is a player vs environment game, it also has player vs player, which adds more fun.
What is your goal for Arc Raiders?
The goal of arc raiders is to act as a scavenger, aka “raider”. A player starts in the underground city of speranza where they will set their loadout and get ready to dive into gameplay. In the game, players loot, kill, and try to extract whatever they get from that raid. If killed, all their loot is gone. Players have to go through obstacles of “arcs” (robots of the game) and players, all in the 30 minutes they have to get out.
What is the expedition?
The expedition is a quest which resets your account and gives you permanent rewards but at the cost of all your progress. Although the benefits sound nice, players tend to not do it since you lose everything you have gained.
What keeps you playing?
What keeps me playing is the thought of whether or not I’m going to make it home to “speranza”. What also keeps me playing the game is the fact that when you lose, you lose all your progress, which makes me want to go back and try again. This part of the game is the most frustrating but also addicting.
How does Arc Raiders teach players to work as a team?
John: Without teamwork you will die to the enemies and lose the progress you made during that game.
