Overview
- Design director Virgil Watkins says leaving free-to-play made Arc Raiders “drastically easier” to build because systems no longer needed added grind to drive spending.
- Embark removed crafting timers and trimmed resource demands so progression feels more rational and proportional to player effort.
- Watkins acknowledges the team still must fund live service support through monetization that does not feel predatory despite the $40 upfront price.
- The game was first announced in 2021 as free-to-play, later shifted to a PvPvE extraction focus, moved to a premium model in June 2024, and launched in October 2025 as Nexon’s most successful global debut.
- Embark says the first in-game expedition is scheduled to begin on 21 December on an eight-week cadence with incentives tied to resetting progression.