ARC Raiders PvP Update Is Music To My Ears

4 days ago 13

ARC Raiders character pointing a pistol.

Kyle Gratton is an editor and writer based out of Kansas City. He received a bachelor's degree, dual majoring in English and History with a minor in Film and Media Studies, and has been a senior staff writer and reviewer for Screen Rant's Gaming section since 2021, with roles in editorial, and various freelance projects.

A terminal Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, film, film adaptions of literature, and history.

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Like any ongoing multiplayer game, the future of ARC Raiders is constantly in flux. Live-service games survive on a constant drip of new content, and sometimes fans hope for transformative changes. A constant debate regarding the balance between ARC Raiders' PvE and PvP combat has been ongoing since the game launched, and even though aggression-based matchmaking tries to appease all camps, some players feel they aren't incentivized enough.

It's true that PvP has little upside other than for the fun of it. You aren't adversely rewarded for eliminating other raiders, and you regularly attract ARC's attention by making a lot of noise. There are often suggestions that Embark Studios add metagame incentives, like kill leaderboards, so the most hardcore players can vie for positioning. I understand the appeal of such motivators, but I'm incredibly relieved to hear Embark has already ruled them out.

ARC Raiders Won't Add PvP Kill Leaderboards Or Nemesis System

Two Raiders pointing guns at each other in the snow.

In a recent interview for GamesBeat, Dean Takahashi spoke to Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund and former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney during an extended ARC Raiders play session (via PC Gamer). One of the more interesting aspects discussed was a potential increase to the game's PvP emphasis, which Söderlund made clear was a very thorough discussion during development.

In Embark's vision for ARC Raiders, though, the game remains free of highly competitive aspects like leaderboards. Simply providing more metrics to gauge PvP performance makes fighting other players more attractive, and the fact that ARC Raiders is devoid of them is "one of the beauties of this game," according to Söderlund.

This demonstrates not only a clear vision of how ARC Raiders should progress, but also an awareness of what makes the game tick in the first place. "The game isn't about shooting other players," Söderlund says. "You can do that if you want to, but the ethos of the game has never been to go in and shoot players."

Embark Knows PvP Is Best As A Diegetic Possibility

Baron Husk ARC Raiders Promotional Image

Kettle macro expoits aside, ARC Raiders clearly tries very hard to put players on a fairly even playing field because the possibility of combat with other raiders is part of the atmosphere, not necessarily the focus. I praised ARC Raiders in my review for essentially creating a believable, reactive sandbox that allows players to become the center of emergent narratives. Each individual goes into a raid with a unique goal, and the game is very hands-off in letting a story naturally unfold.

Söderlund knows that this is the heart of ARC Raiders' popularity, that the many different possibilities presented to you in a raid, and which ones you decide to act upon, is what makes it so engaging. Söderlund specifically points to raider flares, which are launched upon a player being downed. "At one point, I came back after a playtest, and the flares were gone, and I just said 'Bring them back,'" he said. "They signal to other players that action is happening somewhere. It makes it feel populated in an important way."

A raider flare is just an audiovisual cue, but its meaning changes depending on the situation. For many, it means an opportunity to prey on someone in trouble. For others, it may be an opportunity to help those in need. Maybe I'm carrying valuable loot and the flare just went up near the extraction I was planning on using, and now I'm rethinking my whole strategy because walking into an active combat zone could seriously jeopardize my chances of getting back to Speranza.

A leaderboard or a nemesis system, in which players are rewarded for taking out certain raiders, swings the pendulum too far toward PvP for the sandbox to continue operating as intended. The other players are supposed to be unpredictable parts of the game world; the tension they provide – not knowing whether they will attack – is key to the atmosphere ARC Raiders culminates. Incentivizing PvP so much would tilt the scales too much in aggression's direction.

There's an argument to be made that ARC Raiders' aggression-based matchmaking already puts a finger on said scales, but it's easy enough for players to manipulate if they're unsatisfied with how much PvP is in their lobby. Gamifying PvP with more ancillary rewards is also different than trying to filter the playerbase into experiences they'll like. ARC Raiders has clearly exceeded expectations conforming to Embark Studios' vision thus far, and it's comforting to hear that the developers know that incentivizing PvP too much might jeopardize its best qualities.