Everything You Need to Know About the New Extraction Shooter ARC Raiders

Mark your calendars! ARC Raiders, one of the biggest releases this fall, is dropping on October 30th. Even better? It will be available on GFN.AM the same day—no downloads, no lag, and absolutely no messing around. Jump on the hype train with us as we break down what this game is all about and why it deserves a spot on your radar.

The Long and Winding Dev Road

ARC Raiders was supposed to be the debut title for Embark Studios, founded by ex-DICE (Battlefield series) and EA vets. They originally wanted to release it three years ago, but the developers felt the initial concept was simply too boring to stand out in a crowded market. So, they smartly put their successful team shooter The Finals out first and sent ARC Raiders back to the oven for a serious redesign. It started as a co-op PvE action game with zero hint of PvP, but now, what we have is a genuine extraction shooter in the spirit of Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown—just played from a third-person perspective.

The dev team clearly didn't miss the mark: after the first beta test, streamers and regular gamers alike absolutely loved the game. And during the recent stress test, this extraction shooter managed to hit a massive 200,000 concurrent players on Steam! That’s a serious flex.

That Post-Apocalyptic Vibe

The game’s setting is a future Earth that gives off serious Terminator vibes: most of humanity was wiped out by mysterious, collective-intelligence mechanical invaders known as the ARC. The few survivors are forced to eke out a living deep underground, occasionally sending brave Raiders to the surface to scavenge for valuable resources. The atmosphere of this post-apocalyptic world in ARC Raiders is intensely reminiscent of The Last of Us: crumbling settlements, nature taking over, and a deep silence broken only by mechanical chirps and lonely gunshots in the distance.

Hardcore PvE... With a Side of PvP

Sure, other players will be lurking in the raids—they’d love nothing more than to snag the loot you’ve been painstakingly gathering for the last 30 minutes, and maybe even taunt you in the proximity chat. But they are not the only threat. If the ARC was easy to deal with, they wouldn’t have wiped out most of humankind!

Aggressive robots are everywhere you go: from small spiders hiding on walls and ceilings to loud 'Stalker' drones that call for combat reinforcements the moment they spot a human. Even a single enemy can cause major headaches—simply shooting the metal is ineffective; you need to know their weak points. And a group of them can easily send a Raider to an early grave. Oh, and a word of advice: if you don't have powerful weapons and a decent medical stash, do not provoke the gigantic spider-bot—it is EXTREMELY hard to run away from.

Dynamic World Events

While the maps in ARC Raiders don't globally change, the loot, enemy spawns, and extraction points are procedurally generated in every run. The points of interest stay the same, but the location of everything else varies from raid to raid, which is a great way for the game to stand out among other extraction shooters. On top of that, a random event can happen at any moment. For example, it might start raining, a sandstorm could kick up, or a radioactive zone could appear—while the first two just make visibility and hearing worse, the last one can outright kill you.

Progression Grind

The main goal of the game is simple: extract as much expensive loot as possible to earn cash for better gear and weapon attachments. Successful raids will also reward you with XP to develop passive and active skills, ranging from faster, quieter looting to camouflage or drone repair. You can even upgrade... wait for it... a mechanical rooster back at your base! This metal poultry gathers extra resources while you're out raiding the surface. Plus, you can reset your progress for prestigious rewards when you hit the cap.