For those who’ve picked up Arc Raiders and may’t appear to get pleasure from it, you’re not alone

I will be the primary to confess that I am prone to a sure type of gaming hype—a type of hype generated en masse by Arc Raiders, one in every of 2025’s largest multiplayer video games. Particularly, I used to be drawn to the community-grown components of Arc Raider‘s sterling reputation: it by no means felt like a recreation shoved down our throats by company advertising groups, however organically proliferated by actual gamers, with actual experiences to share.

With so many avid gamers singing Arc Raiders‘ praises (together with our personal group at GR giving it an ideal rating), I used to be able to no-life Embark Studios’ formidable challenge like everybody else. Hopping into the sport for the primary time, I bear in mind being captivated by its sturdy capturing and motion mechanics, in addition to its quirky post-apocalypse world, which felt distinctive regardless of having shades of Fallout, Mad Max, and the like. Sadly, Arc Raiders misplaced its luster for me shortly after just some runs, and Steam tells me I’ve solely performed about 5 hours of the sport. Certain, I am fairly busy, however that did not cease me from placing over 20 hours into Battlefield 6 at launch (or 80 hours in Hades 2, however that is one other story). So, what provides? I really feel neglected of the Arc Raiders social gathering, and perhaps you do too.

Arc Raiders Is Cool, however It Hasn’t Sunk Its Tooth Into Me But

The extraction shooter gameplay loop could be boiled right down to the next course of: go right into a hostile zone with different gamers, acquire loot, return to base with loot with out getting killed, or else you lose the whole lot. Now, I like troublesome video games, however the enormously excessive stakes of the extraction shooter style have all the time been a bit too punishing for me. I perceive that that is the purpose—excessive threat, excessive reward, and all—nevertheless it’s simply not a mode of gameplay that I discover significantly enjoyable.

There are a variety of doable causes for this, however one which involves thoughts is the ability hole between style newcomers and veterans. Because the previous adage goes, “there’ll all the time be a sweatier participant,” that means that there’ll all the time be a extra intense, devoted shooter within the PvP foyer, prepared to chop your run quick simply as you are studying the ropes. In different multiplayer shooters, you may simply respawn and take a look at once more, however in an extraction shooter, demise is way extra impactful, typically leading to a negation of a number of hours of labor. And that is in all probability the primary cause I can’t fully enjoy Arc Raiders: it looks like work. Looting and narrowly escaping a session is satisfying, however the whole lot within the lead-up to that feels perfunctory, routine, and bland, all whereas an unceremonious, devastating loss hangs over your head.

To Arc Raiders‘ credit score, it does take steps towards being extra accessible to style newcomers, with the free loadouts being a main instance of this. However to me, such options really feel an excessive amount of like a compromise; they undermine the high-stakes satisfaction and cross-run development the sport is constructed on.

Arc Raiders - accolades trailer screenshot

On prime of all this, Arc Raiders is a live-service game, designed to be performed and developed indefinitely. However I need to play a recreation with a starting, center, and finish. I would like an expertise that I can look again on and smile about. I do not desire a recreation that looks like clocking right into a job and grinding away for assets that would in any other case be purchased with real-world cash; at its core, the live-service style is designed to maintain luring you again. To this finish, live-service video games often aren’t designed with lasting satisfaction in thoughts.

My expertise with Arc Raiders has been an unexpectedly introspective one. I harbor no unwell will towards the sport, and I really recognize many elements of its world, artwork design, and moment-to-moment gameplay, however I’ve realized that this sort of “play without end” recreation simply is not my cup of tea. It typically feels prefer it must be, since live-service titles by no means appear to exit of vogue regardless of avid gamers the world over declaring the enterprise mannequin lifeless, however that is the rub. Possibly sometime, I will open my eyes to the brilliance of Arc Raiders, however for now, booting it up looks like work.