ARC Raiders plans for flexible monthly updates to leave space to experiment and tune the PvPvE experience

ARC Raiders promises to be the next big thing in the extraction shooter genre, with its immersive setting, dangerous AI, and more approachable systems compared to some of the more hardcore counterparts.

While all eyes are on the game’s launch on Oct. 30, it’s the post-launch support that determines how far a live-service title can go. On Oct. 27, I spoke with the executive producer of ARC Raiders, Aleksander Grøndal, about the content planned after launch, how it ties to the game’s progression, and some of the long-term ambitions.

Unlike most live-service games these days, ARC Raiders doesn’t follow a traditional seasonal model. Instead, the team aims for a monthly cadence of meaningful updates with potentially even larger updates a couple of times throughout the year. “We try to have a bit of a flexible approach when it comes down to this, while still maintaining a good cadence,” Grøndal explained, adding that the studio also needs a little bit of space to experiment and push the formula forward.

As for what you can expect from an update, Grøndal mentioned that it could be almost anything, including community events, new items, ARCs, quests, entries in the Codex, map conditions, and more. The team will try a couple of things in the coming months, get feedback, and work from there.

The developer is still ironing out the exact details, and while larger pieces of content like new maps might be a part of the previously mentioned larger yearly updates, Grøndal hinted that we might see something in that department as early as before the holidays. There’ll also be a short-term roadmap, detailing what we can expect in ARC Raiders leading up to Christmas.

So, regardless of whether you’re looking to commit to consistent voluntary wipes via the recently announced Expedition Project, or want to explore and progress at your own pace, there’ll always be new stuff for you to try out and new progression elements to continue your journey.

Last week, we heard that internally, Embark refers to ARC Raiders as a 10-year game. Ten years is a long span for any title, and without running too far into an arbitrary future, I asked about the team’s goals for the next year.

The first year is all about sticking the landing, tweaking, and tuning the foundation of the PvPvE experience. “I’m certain that some parts we need to tweak. Some parts we need to amend. Some parts, we need to maybe let go, who knows?” Grøndal said. Then the next thing would be trying new concepts.

When referring to the quote about ARC Raiders being a 10-year game, Grøndal said it doesn’t have to be the same game for 10 years. To manage a 10-year lifespan, ARC Raiders will likely go through a couple of changes.

“It’s pretty broad in terms of what could be in there. Because we have the PvE, we have the [PvP], we have the ARC machines, we have the open environments, and we have the [survival elements]. All of these components, I think, we can reconfigure in different ways to create new experiences over time.”

Whether it’s picking up the pieces and ideas from the past, like when ARC Raiders was solely a PvE game, or exploring completely new ideas and ambitions, like even bigger ARCs, there’s a lot this game could become as long as it maintains the core tension and excitement.