Less than two weeks after launch, Embark Studios’ new extraction shooter, ARC Raiders, has officially gone past Electronic Arts, and in doing so, has set the remarkable presence of concurrent active players on the Steam platform. The shocking twist now finds a newborn intellectual property standing against and momentarily above a tested first-person shooter franchise, greatly sparking discussions around the industry regarding consumer interests and market realities.
The momentum behind ARC Raiders rests on a strange conjunction of factors analyzed recently. While Battlefield 6 gained traction from its free-to-play RedSec battle royale, ARC Raiders has benefited from the word-of-mouth promotion developed by a stunning gaming community, consisting largely of solo-player-happy gameplay intended for broad appeal to extraction fans. Undeniably, the $40 price tag of ARC Raiders is yet another stark contrast to its rival’s $70 standard version. This might put off some players, who seem to matter in this alternative PC gaming landscape.
The statistics shared were courtesy of SteamDB. ARC Raiders currently registers over 460,000 active players, having thus bagged the glory of being the third-most-played game, right behind reigning competitive giants Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. Battlefield 6 now sits in fourth place with a rather meager concurrent count, trailing by some 430,000 players. However, to make sense of these numbers, context is needed; of course, Battlefield 6 has scored much higher regarding all-time peak-player counts, and this data is for the PC only on Steam, not counting the heavy engagement from consoles on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
The community for ARC Raiders continues to grow amidst slight server hitches recorded over the weekends, attracting new players into its fold with the addition of fresh contents such as the Hidden Bunker Event and the dynamic Electromagnetic Storm weather conditions. With Embark Studios continuing along this planned roadmap, addressing such long-outstanding debates from players-the loudest one being the request for a dedicated PvE-only mode-the outlook of this game is a highly upward one. This early success now proves that a newcomer can threaten the existing stable of the modern AAA gaming landscape with an engaging, approachable, and fun product that seems to be getting wildly supportive reception.
