Daily Games
·07/11/2025
In the crowded field of extraction shooters, a new game from Embark Studios draws notice by reversing the usual formula. While titles like Escape From Tarkov earned fame through tense player-versus-player clashes, Arc Raiders diverts attention toward a single, non human menace. This shift may give the genre the push it needs to reach a wider public.
Arc Raiders is a free extraction shooter that lands players in a ruined world harassed by an AI faction called the ARC. Those machines are not decorative - they form the core conflict. Units range from swift drones to orbital mechs the size of buildings, all of them smart, adaptive and lethal. Each raid tasks players with outlasting the machines looting scraps and boarding the evac shuttle while the planet itself seems to track their footprints.
The decision carries weight because it trims the learning curve that keeps newcomers away. Fresh arrivals do not confront seasoned veterans on day one - they share a vast, lethal enemy instead. Human contact turns volatile. Some squads fire on sight - yet the shared machine threat often forces short lived pacts plus silent cease fires while groups pool firepower to stay alive.
Early numbers suggest the gamble pays off. Arc Raiders now sits among the highest rated multiplayer shooters on OpenCritic mere weeks after launch. Reviewers highlight battles that feel chaotic and physical - every scrap is an unplanned, rag doll struggle. Blow a leg off a bot and the damage shows - the unit limps, re targets or compensates giving the impression of an opponent that studies its wounds and adjusts.
By placing brutal player-versus-environment combat first, Arc Raiders delivers a distinct rush. The challenge lies less in outwitting fellow humans but also more in surviving astronomical pressure. Such an emphasis could herald a fresh crop of extraction shooters that speak to a wider base demonstrating that the deadliest foe is not always another person.









