How Arc Raiders aims to survive “for the longest time”

Arc Raiders launched in late October 2025 and enjoyed a remarkable debut. According to SteamDB, the extraction adventure peaked at more than 700,000 concurrent players and went on to win “Best Multiplayer Game” at the Game Awards. While parts of the community have gained a reputation for toxicity, the game’s blend of PvE and PvP gameplay has clearly resonated with players. Embark Studios says it is committed to maintaining that momentum in the years ahead.

Robert Sammelin, Art Director at Embark Studios, shared insights into the future of Arc Raiders during a conversation with Tim Clark and Evan Lahti from PC Gamer at the Game Awards. While Embark is not planning to release a traditional content roadmap, the team is working toward a long-term “10-year vision” – a goal that was already known. As Sammelin explained, however, the studio is prepared to support the game well beyond that timeframe if the community remains active and engaged. “Our ambition is to keep this game alive for the longest time […] as long as players engage with it, have fun, and see that it is evolving in a good way,” Sammelin said. Ultimately, the game’s long-term future remains open-ended, shaped largely by player interest and feedback.

I think games like this will evolve depending on community behaviours, feedback, and how we pick out the things we see people engage really well with [...] I think there's a wide range of routes that we can take with this, and time will tell how we sort of dig into it.

In practical terms, this means Arc Raiders will not follow a typical live-service model with a fixed content schedule. Instead, development is meant to remain flexible and shaped by player feedback. Embark’s commitment to this approach is already reflected in the recent Cold Snap update. Widely welcomed by the community, the patch addressed major concerns such as slow progression and unbalanced loot. It also introduced two new challenges and added dynamic weather effects – most notably snowstorms, which bring both a literal and figurative breath of fresh air to the game.

By the way: Arc Raiders is also verified for the Steam Deck (currently selling for around $445 on Amazon).