Extraction shooter crisis? ARC Raiders and Marathon suddenly turn to PvE

Extraction shooters are typically built around the idea that not only AI enemies but also other players could be lurking around every corner. Right now, however, that concept appears to be under scrutiny, at least to some extent.

In ARC Raiders, Embark Studios will test an optional PvE mode from October 13 to 20. Players who don't want to deal with hostile players will be able to fight exclusively against the ARC machines. However, loot is expected to be less valuable in PvE mode. Embark also emphasizes that this is only a test for now. Bungie is going even further with Marathon. The developers are planning a permanent PvE mode for December. Additional variants that separate PvE, PvP and PvPvE more clearly are also planned for later. As a result, the shooter is increasingly moving away from the traditional extraction formula.

Are extraction shooters too stressful?

The fact that both games are moving in this direction at almost the same time has led Reddit users to wonder whether a broader trend could be emerging: Are extraction shooters turning into regular co-op shooters? Many users suspect that extraction shooters may simply be too exhausting in the long run. Anyone who spends 20 minutes looting only to get gunned down by another player and lose everything needs a certain tolerance for frustration – and not everyone may have that. “Honestly I just want the loot goblin fantasy without some guy with 4,000 hours evicting me from the raid. PvE it is.” says Reddit user u/boxing-boxing.

However, there are also opposing views. For some players, the constant threat posed by other players remains a key part of the genre's appeal. “When you remove those elements it's just a boring game that has no intense moments since there's nothing to lose, gain or improve/build on,” writes u/haste57. ARC Raiders and Marathon are also still relatively young. With Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown 1896, there are extraction shooters that have been successful with traditional PvPvE for years.

The problem may therefore have less to do with the genre itself and more with how large the audience for this type of gameplay actually is. ARC Raiders experienced enormous hype at launch and, according to SteamDB, peaked at more than 400,000 concurrent players. By now, however, the extraction shooter typically sits at just 30,000 to 40,000 concurrent players – similar to Tarkov (according to SteamDB). Whether games in this genre can retain more than this “small” hardcore audience in the long run remains questionable. If ARC Raiders and Marathon want to return to their previous highs, they may have to rethink the formula.