ARC Raiders is a new loot shooter and should celebrate its release in 2022. However, the developers have now postponed the title to focus on another project. The reactions to this are surprisingly understanding.
What is ARC Raiders game? A new third-person loot shooter from the previously relatively unknown Embark Studios. Some ex-developers from DICE, the people behind Battlefield, work in the development studio, and the head of Embark is Patrick Söderlund, formerly a big hit at publisher EA.
With ARC Raiders one wants to use this experience to develop a new AAA loot shooter with Free2Play model. That means: top graphics at Destiny level and a focus on the current console generation PS5 and Xbox Series X|S as well as the PC.
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After the announcement at “The Game Awards 2021” with a brilliant trailer, however, it became suspiciously quiet about the shooter, which was supposed to be released in 2022.
It was one of the last great shooter hopes for this year, but as with so many games, the information has now come: ARC Raiders will be postponed, according to the Steam page to 2023.
We embed the announcement trailer here:
Loot Shooter ARC Raiders – Announcement Trailer
In ARC Raiders, Earth is under attack from an unknown force from space – ARC. They throw advanced machines onto the planet’s surface and you as the player have to stop the ARCs from overrunning the earth. Of course you call yourselves Raiders… ARC Raiders.
The trailer and the marketing of the game exude a charming retro look. It’s a bit reminiscent of the Netflix hit series Stranger Things, making it feel like Destiny in the ’80s.
Similar to Destiny you are very mobile. There’s no flying, but with the help of grappling hooks and jump pads, you can still fire quickly across the battlefield and reach unprecedented heights and speeds.
So far, however, there is only the ARC Riders trailer attached above: No information about the loot system or general gameplay details that would reveal anything about long-term game motivation.
However, one knows: ARC Raiders is planned as a free2play shooter and should offer large co-op shares. The regular team size is not yet known.
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Why was the game postponed? Because of another game. Also a shooter, but first-person and with a touch of “Ready Player One”. The game does not yet have a name and is only referred to as “Project Discovery”. We include a little teaser for you here:
Patrick Söderlund explained in a blog post that this second project is progressing much better than planned and one would like to see “Project Discovery” as Embark Studios’ first game on the market (via medium.com).
As a small, new studio, you don’t want to try to do two big releases at the same time. It was therefore decided to deepen the more complex of the two games – ARC Raiders – even further and to work on it longer before the release.
However, there is still no release date for “Project Discovery” and with ARC Riders one of the last AAA shooters, which should be on the market this year, has now been postponed. Meanwhile, only Overwatch 2 (04.10.22) and CoD: Modern Warfare 2 (28.10.22) remain.
What are the reactions? In fact, the reactions to the postponement are very forgiving. One or the other player is upset about it, but in general hardly anyone is angry about the postponement.
Since there has been little publicity for the title since the announcement, many players probably suspected that there would be a postponement – if the game was still on anyone’s list. Here are a few user comments:
Players eyeing the loot shooter aren’t surprised by the shift. The developers are more likely to be supported in their decision.
If you have your own opinion about ARC Riders, leave a comment. If you prefer to discover other loot shooters, then have a look here: The 8 best loot shooters 2022 – For PC, PS4, PS5, Switch and Xbox