The developers of Arc Raiders are planning content for 10 years and explain why there is no roadmap

With a release date set for October 30, Arc Raiders is eagerly awaited by thousands of gamers. But while success already seems assured, Embark Studios has made a surprising revelation, stating that the game could have a lifespan of ten years. 

It was during a stream on Twitch at TwitchCon that Arc Raiders design director Virgil Watkins spoke about this when asked how the studio planned to ensure the game's longevity:

"I think internally, for a very long time, we refer to this as a 10-year game. So that is the ambition we’re aiming for and that kind of dictates the type and quantity of content that we want to put into it.” 

And that's not all, because he also mentioned the reasons why there is no roadmap for this game

"We are not at this stage, going to discuss roadmap details that stuff can quickly spiral into promises that can go unfulfilled if things change, but of course adding things over time like new maps, and extending questlines, and introducing new enemies, new weapons and things like that. We’ll have some stuff lined up post-launch, and for a little bit after, but then it will be based on what we see out of the launch and going there after to start dropping the content that we need to.” 

While this decision is understandable, particularly in terms of avoiding major disappointment for players, it is nonetheless surprising. Indeed, fans are likely to be left in the dark in the coming months, especially if Embark Studios continues to remain silent.

However, Arc Raiders could be hugely successful when it officially launches. And if we are to believe the information revealed by Virgil Watkins, it will be possible to enjoy it for ten years, provided the game doesn't run out of steam before then.