‘The Game Isn’t About Shooting Other Players’ — Arc Raiders Dev Explains Why It Won’t Add Additional PvP Mechanics Like Leaderboards

Amid the debate about Arc Raiders players who focus on the PvP aspect of the game and little else, the boss of Embark Studios has made the developer’s position clear: this is not a game about killing other players, and it doesn’t want to “foster” that type of gameplay.

Arc Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure in which players scavenge the remnants of a devastated world, but the main threats are Arc’s machines and, as Embark Studios puts it, “the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors.”

Arc Raiders’ player versus environment versus player gameplay has resulted in a number of viral clips showing how friendly encounters can quickly devolve into a fight to the last. Yes, you can play solo or in parties up to three, working as a team to progress through the game. However, other players are a constant threat. This has sparked a vociferous debate within the community about the etiquette that has formed in-game, with a retired pro gamer going viral for relentlessly killing casual Arc Raiders players.

Meanwhile, Embark recently confirmed that Arc Raiders does indeed feature ‘aggression-based matchmaking.’ This means that if you’re big into PvP, you’ll be matched up with players who are like-minded. Similarly, if you prefer PvE, you’ll be matchmade with players who tend to avoid conflict with other players.

But according to Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios, the developer won’t add a PvP leaderboard or other systems that promote PvP, because that’s not what Arc Raiders is about.

In a recent interview / video playthrough of the game with Games Beat, Söderlund explained the studio’s position.

“We’ve had several discussions about Nemesis systems and all types of things,” he said. “I don’t know where the team are on them right now. I think one of the beauties of this game is the fact that we don’t have those leaderboards and it’s not competitive.

“We don’t want to necessarily foster that type of gameplay. The game isn’t about shooting other players. You can do that if you want to, but the ethos of the game has never been to go in and shoot players. It’s a part that we use to craft tension.”

Söderlund revealed that Arc Raiders spent quite a bit of time during development not having other players at all. But Embark added other players into the game, supported by subtle signaling so you know players were about, to create this important element of tension.

“The game was without other players for a long time,” Söderlund said. “And yes, there were instances where the game was fun and there were areas where it worked quite well. But also the minute you added other players and then use subtle ways of signaling — you don’t know how many players are on the server, you don’t know how many players have died, you don’t know how many players are around you — but we signal to you that there are other players. You hear them shooting. That’s why audio is a very important part of this game. You hear them encountering Arc and other players. You see the raider flares as they go down.

“At one point — it was funny — I came back into a playtest and the raider flares were gone. I’m like, ‘Why did you remove those?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, well…’ So I just said, ‘Just bring them back.’ They’re such an iconic part of this game.

“And they also signal to other players that action is happening somewhere. It makes it feel populated in an important way. And you also know that there could be a downed raider somewhere. Should I go there? Should I take the risk and go there to see whether I can find something, or have they been brought back to life? There’s a tension element in that that’s very important.”

Söderlund went on to suggest that private game servers are “absolutely something we could consider.” Private servers are something fans have been wondering about ever since Arc Raiders came out last year. Their addition would, theoretically at least, allow those who are big into PvP to perhaps create servers where that’s the focus.

For now, though, Arc Raiders won’t shake your hand for your player-killing exploits, or give you the chance for online glory through leaderboards. The emphasis here is PvE — with a dash of PvP thrown in.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.