Embark Studios has released a gameplay reveal trailer for their upcoming survival extraction shooter ARC Raiders.
The gameplay footage comes from an early tech test that was held in October, following a group of three Raiders as they head out from the human haven of Speranza City and look to explore the surface and the Buried City to find vital resources – each player can have different objectives and goals, it seems.
Of course, there’s other players out there, and if you come across another Raider you can chat using a quick wheel of dialogue options, potentially trying to share the spoils with someone outside of your party instead of having a gunfight.
Any time a Raider is knocked down, a flare goes up to mark their position, though you’ll never be sure if they were in a fight with the ARC robots or ended up in a scuffle with other players.
Set for release in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, ARC Raiders will be venturing into an increasingly busy genre. The extraction shooter and PvPvE multiplayer has become a popular follow on and counterpart to the battle royale over the past half decade, with the most popular examples including Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown, while there’s both big budget upcoming games like Bungie’s Marathon and scrappier upstarts like Ascendant.
This game has had a fair bit of time in the oven. ARC Raiders was announced back in 2021 at The Game Awards, initially with a 2022 release target, which it then slipped from. Helmed by ex-Battlefield lead Patrick Söderlund, the team explained that they need more time to expand their take on the co-op shooter, seemingly shifting away from pure PvE originally to bake in the PvPvE elements.
It eventually reemerged back during Summer Games Fest with a new 2025 target launch. Between now and then, it seems likely that more tech tests and betas will be held, and you can sign up for these tests on Steam.
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Embark Studios
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Patrick Söderlund