You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
Arc Raiders is blossoming following its release less than a week ago, and the communications director and publishing manager for Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, has shared high praise for Embark’s extraction shooter. On X, John ‘Bucky’ Buckley shared they believe “Arc Raiders might be the most technically impressive game I’ve played all year”. Bucky elaborated that “Megabonk & Ball x Pit [are] the most fun, but Arc Raiders really is a technical marvel”.
Commenting on its use of Unreal Engine 5, Bucky said, “Arc Raiders might be the new benchmark for UE development” and they are “In awe of what [Embark has] achieved”. Lastly, one user highlighted Buried City, to which Bucky responded, “It’s my absolute least favourite map to play, but it is gorgeous”.
The praise for Arc Raiders is deserved as the game is a technical phenomenon. Some were concerned about the game following the appearance of an AI disclosure on Steam, but design director, Virgil Watkins, has assured people there’s “no generative AI whatsoever”.
Outside of praise from fellow developers, the game is performing extremely well. In its first weekend it reached over 350,000 concurrent players, which is nearly double the 189,000+ that were part of the free-to-play Server Slam. It’s also over 100,000 more than the highest peak achieved for Embark’s free-to-play The Finals.
There were doubts about Arc Raiders when Embark announced it would no longer release free-to-play at Gamescom 2024, but the game is succeeding much better than expected. This is because the game is technically impressive and most importantly fun, albeit with some server issues.
New content is on the way with Stella Montis coming sometime in November and Embark also see it as a “10-year game”. The player count and praise will naturally decrease over time, but right now Arc Raiders is the hot new thing and thoroughly deserves its flowers.
About the Author
