Study of mechanics and player experience in Arc Raiders
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Introduction
Released in October 2025, Arc Raiders has been an unexpected success for a game of this genre. Indeed, it belongs to a very niche category of games, extraction shooters. The question addressed in this analysis is: how Arc Raiders managed to adapt to a wider audience? I will first review the studio's approach, then the structure of its economy, and finally the richness of its social interactions.
Before we begin, here is a quick definition of the extraction shooter genre: players must infiltrate a hostile area, retrieve rare equipment, and then leave the area alive within the allotted time. All while knowing that other players are doing exactly the same.
The first game to base its entire concept around extraction shooters was probably Escape From Tarkov, released in beta in 2016 before its official release in 2025 and developed by Battlestate Games. This genre is an evolution of game modes already present in survival games such as DayZ, released in 2013 and developed by Bohemia Interactive, and Nether, also released in 2013 and developed by Phosphor Games. However, the ultra-realistic approach of Escape From Tarkov and the frustration created by a bullet between the eyes fired by a sniper 150 metres away means that this game is reserved for veterans who enjoy thrills.
Since then, the genre has expanded and numerous games have been released over the years. Nevertheless, it has remained a fairly exclusive genre reserved for players with the strongest nerves. This is due to a phenomenon inherent to the genre: gear fear.
I found this term on a Reddit forum, and it seems perfectly apt to describe the feeling experienced by any shooter player. Gear fear is the constant fear of losing all your equipment in a fraction of a second. Hours of collecting, customising and careful exploration go up in smoke, forever. The difficulty of an extraction shooter is based in part on a scale of gear fear. The harder it is for players to collect new equipment, the more frustrating the game becomes, meaning new players never stick around for very long and the game is restricted to an elite group of players who know the terrain and dominate the servers.
Arc Raiders is no exception to the rule, which is a good thing because gear fear is what gives meaning to the genre. Recently released in 2025 and developed by Team Soda, Escape from Duckov is a single-player extraction shooter where you play as a duck who must explore the outside world to upgrade their bunker. You can choose the difficulty at the start of the game, depending on whether you lose your equipment when you die, the damage you take, the health points of your enemies, etc. I disabled equipment loss at the beginning and quickly realised that the thrill was missing. My experience alone is not an absolute reference, but I thought it would be interesting to mention it in this analysis to support my point.
In-game screenshot, Escape From Tarkov
In-game screenshot, DayZ
In-game screenshot, Escape From Duckov
Gear fear at the heart of the experience
Now that the context has been established and references made, I can compare Arc Raiders and its predecessors in an attempt to understand the game's sudden success.
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The gender approach
The first thing that sets Arc Raiders apart is the presence of formidable enemies: heavily armed, intelligent robots. In games like Escape From Tarkov, PvE encounters often end with a simple bullet to the head of enemies who are somewhat stupid and poorly equipped. This asymmetry refocuses attention on PvP combat and adds to the realism. What Arc Raiders brings with the addition of these robots is a heightened sense of exploration; danger is everywhere, encouraging players to form alliances, even temporary ones, to defeat stronger opponents.
The Arcs, the robots present on each map, all have specific characteristics and behave differently.
The weakest are easy to eliminate in small numbers, but a single player can quickly become overwhelmed by gunfire.
To cite a few examples, ticks wait for the player to look away before jumping on them. The snitch fly high and call for reinforcements, while leapers jump down to land with all their weight on exposed players. As I said earlier, these robots are intelligent; they control the terrain. They won't let players take cover for too long and can follow them into buildings, giving them no respite.
The Leaper, Arc Raiders
The Arcs are not enemies to be killed without thinking.
These robots not only have enhanced vision, they are also sensitive to the various noises that Raiders can make or cause. A few gunshots or a door being forced open can quickly create chaos.
Each encounter with an Arc cannot be handled in the same way, requiring players to continually adapt their strategy. Each situation can therefore be a surprise, and sometimes it takes several players to defeat the Arcs that are most resistant and thus obtain the best loot.
This constant threat completely reverses the usual game dynamics, as the Arcs do not distinguish between one player and another. A duel between teams can then attract a ruthless third opponent who comes to clear the battlefield.
The second notable feature that has attracted many novice players to the genre is its more arcade-like approach. It uses fairly classic shooter mechanics with few controls, which is the opposite of the direction taken by Escape from Tarkov. You can crouch but not lie down, and you can slide and roll to dodge. There is no breathing mechanic. Reducing an opponent's health to 0 only knocks them down, allowing them to be revived by an other player. Equipment is limited to an inventory and a few weapon slots and a rucksack.
The game is also more arcade-like in terms of its interface. The ammunition counter, health bar and compass are always present.
Its game loop is shorter. Games last an average of 15 minutes and take place on small, fairly vertical maps. Loot areas are also concentrated and always marked on the map. Interactions are therefore frequent, and this short format is well suited to more casual players.
One final arcade element is the third-person camera, which allows you to see without being seen by hiding behind a wall, but also provides an overview of your character, making it easier to identify the direction from which you are being shot at. This camera is also very immersive. You can admire the landscapes stretching to the horizon. Seeing your character also makes it easier to move around and adds a new dimension to the gameplay (taking cover, exploring, climbing).
The Spotter, Arc Raiders
In-game screenshot, Arc Raiders
Embark Studio has modernised the genre to make it accessible to all players.
The game also features ultra-immersive sound design. The rustling of the wind in the leaves of the trees, a bullet whizzing through the air nearby, the footsteps of a nearby bastion. This meticulous and detailed work makes the experience even more intense.
Finally, almost all weapons lack scope sights and are limited to a more or less accurate cursor. This prevents long-range sniper shots, even though they are present in the game, while favouring indoor combat without always needing to aim.
All these elements combined contribute to creating a gaming experience that is above all fun, full of interactions and twists and turns.
The Bastion, Arc Raiders
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The economics of the game
The economy in Arc Raiders is also a system that has been modified from the genre's standard. In Escape From Tarkov, there is a currency-based economy, meaning that the vast majority of items obtained during missions are immediately sold to obtain sufficient funds to purchase better equipment. In games with a currency-based economy, the monetary value of items is systematically emphasised. There is also a player market with prices that fluctuate according to supply and demand – the flea market – and even if crafting options are available, they take a back seat. These games also offer pre-built equipment kits that cost a certain amount of money, encouraging players to accumulate as much as possible. Players can therefore define the success of a mission based on the money it has earned them, which is the complete opposite of games with a crafting-driven economy.
A crafting-driven economy requires players to search for a specific item in each match to complete a quest, build a new weapon or piece of equipment, or upgrade their various assembly stations, thereby unlocking more interesting crafts. In Arc Raiders, this translates into the ability to track resources, which are then highlighted when searching containers. The tooltip for items also indicates the type of area where players can find them. These types of areas are also displayed on the map, giving the player a clear objective and direction.​
The options available for purchase from merchants offer a limited number of items at often high prices, implicitly encouraging players to spend a few resources rather than a large amount of money.
These two types of economy are also distinguished by the presentation given to the player at the end of the game. While Arena Breakout: Infinite, a clone of Escape from Tarkov, announces the total value of the items obtained (Fig. 1), Arc Raiders shows the inventory interface and offers quick storage in the reserve (Fig. 2). The former emphasises monetary value, while the latter shows the player the fruits of their labour.
None of these methods is good or bad, but they are suited to different target audiences. Crafting is a system suited to casual players, while analysing the flea market will appeal to hardcore players.
Fig. 1 : Match resume, Arena Breakout : Infinite
Fig. 2 : Match resume, Arc Raiders
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The prisoner's dilemma
Every player of Arc Raiders will encounter the following situation in one of their matches: your inventory is full of rare and useful items, the end of the game is approaching, and around the corner, another player is advancing, weapon in hand. What should you do?
This situation is very similar to the prisoner's dilemma described in 1950 by Albert W. Tucker at Princeton, which is characterised by a situation where two players would benefit from cooperating, but where, in the absence of communication between them, each chooses to betray the other.
Wikipedia describes this principle as follows: “Tucker assumes two prisoners (accomplices to a crime) held in separate cells who cannot communicate with each other; the prison authorities offer each prisoner the following choices:
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if one of the two prisoners denounces the other, he is released while the second receives the maximum sentence (10 years);
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if both denounce each other, they will be sentenced to a lighter penalty (5 years);
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if both refuse to testify, the sentence will be minimal (6 months), due to lack of evidence in the case file.
This game does not spontaneously lead to a situation where one player's well-being cannot be improved without damaging that of another. In equilibrium, each prisoner will probably choose to defect even though they would gain from cooperating: each has a strong incentive to cheat, which is at the heart of the dilemma.
The main difference between this theoretical situation and a situation in Arc Raiders is that both parties can communicate with each other, at best using an in-game microphone and at worst using basic emotes such as "Hello", "Don’t shoot", "Yes" and "No". The main barrier preventing the two parties from reaching an agreement is therefore immediately broken down.
Game image, Arc Raiders
Strict enforcement of the mantra "No mic, no life"
Except that Arc Raiders is more complex on many levels, and certain levers can influence player behaviour in real time.
Returning to our initial situation, the two players (or teams) can then try to agree on a ceasefire through communication, even if it is rudimentary. But then the first trigger that could lead to bloodshed comes into play: human nature and the personalities of the players.
The first announced version of the game was designed entirely around a PvE experience, but the addition of PvP allows players to enjoy all the permutations of human behaviour.
Starting with the simplest case, one team refuses to communicate and attacks on sight, taking advantage of the element of surprise to win the fight as quickly as possible. In the Prisoner's dilemma situation, one prisoner informed on the other while the other remained silent.
If this fake battle continues, the sounds of combat, often heard several hundred metres away, could attract other greedy Raiders who would also take advantage of the element of surprise against the team that won the first battle to kill them. This situation is similar to the second case of the Prisoner's Dilemma, where both prisoners denounced each other and were both convicted. Obviously, in the case of Arc Raiders, there is no granularity in the severity of the punishment, as all players have lost their equipment and finds.
Finally, if both parties communicate and decide not to shoot each other, we find ourselves in the third scenario of the dilemma. The prisoners face a minimum sentence. The players must therefore share the containers to search, which results in reduced gains but no one loses their equipment.
Even if the players manage to reach an agreement, an unexpected intervention by the Arcs can completely turn the situation around and transform the building into a war zone. The Arcs are not opponents to be taken lightly, as a burst of gunfire or an explosion can seriously injure a player. The other team may then decide to take advantage of this moment of weakness to eliminate the competition and gain additional equipment.
Finally, a larger team may decide, due to its numerical advantage, to engage in combat without warning, as it is much easier to take on one or two players when you have two allies to back you up at that moment.
Arc Raiders is not a game that imposes morality, good or bad.
The game places the player in a situation that challenges them to consider what they want to be when no one is watching. This is rare for a shooter game. The player must adapt, calculate and choose, while accepting the consequences.
This parallel with the Prisoner's Dilemma shows that each encounter in Arc Raiders can end in many different ways, which adds to the adrenaline rush at the end of each game. As the games are fairly short, these situations occur regularly and make the game particularly addictive.
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Conclusion
In this analysis, I have only compared Arc Raiders with Escape From Tarkov, as most other games of this genre still in active development are clones that are more or less similar to the game by Battlestate Games. There is also Hunt: Showdown 1896, which still has a few active players, but otherwise, games that have attempted a more PvE approach, such as The Cycle: Frontier, are now closed.
The turbulent development and numerous iterations ultimately enabled Embark Studio to release a complete game that appeals to a wide audience. It is certain to further democratise the genre.
In conclusion, this analysis has allowed me to highlight the main features that enabled the game to achieve good sales figures upon its release. Its success is not only linked to a design decision but to a set of finely tuned systems.