ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios is testing a PvE mode in its extraction shooter, and it's all because a growing chunk of players simply refuse to hunt each other down. If you jump into the game between October 13th and 20th, you'll be able to flip a toggle that decides whether you load into the classic version of ARC Raiders or a friendlier version where the machines are still deadly but the humans can't hurt you.
Why is Embark adding a PvE toggle?
The short answer: the community asked for it, one peaceful raid at a time. Embark say they've noticed a big shift in how people actually play, and they'd rather support those players directly than leave them improvising workarounds.
Quote From ARC Raiders We're seeing a large and growing group of Raiders who come to the Rust Belt for the co-op and the ARC, not fighting with other Raiders. That group has become a core part of our community, so it's important we learn how to support them properly rather than leave them working around the game.
To back this up, the studio shared some data. It turns out there are now more players who stick to friendly co-op and never attack other humans than there are members of the merciless pure-PvP crowd. The PvP group has held steady at around 34% since launch, while the pool of mixed players has shrunk, with most of them opting to go full peacenik.
Quote From ARC Raiders
37% Friendly co-op players (this player group has grown consistently since launch).
27% Mixed players.
34% Pure PvP players (this player group has remained stable since launch).
Over 70% of Friendly players and even 40% of PvP players express a desire for fewer hostile encounters and 51% of the surveyed playerbase has expressed an interest in a dedicated PvE option.
There are clear friction points, with friendly players often attempting to avoid PvP entirely, and we hear frustration from certain groups of players around ratting and camping.
How is the PvE mode different?
The test version of ARC Raiders is nearly identical to the standard game, with a few key changes:
There is zero player-to-player damage.
The value of loot you find in these peaceful matches is lower, reflecting the reduced risk.
Some special events won't appear in PvE games, because they were built around unpredictable player encounters. That includes Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate.
Embark stress that the point of this test isn't to crank up the PvE difficulty to compensate for the missing PvP threat. That said, the ARC robots have been tuned to be a touch more ruthless to keep some tension alive.
Quote From ARC Raiders If you are downed by ARC's, be a bit careful when crawling, they might re-acquire you as a target even when you are moving when downed. They will ignore you if you stay still. We're trying this to maintain some tension to compensate for the lack of a PvP threat.
Sooo, learn to play dead?
What does this mean for extraction shooters?
Extraction shooters have been having a real moment, and ARC Raiders isn't the only big name wrestling with players who don't want to engage with a core part of the genre. Ever since The Division's Dark Zone, the uncertainty of other players' intentions has been the thing that gives extraction shooters their signature tension - you're never quite safe until the moment you escape a map. Bungie is working on a PvE mode for Marathon for much the same reason, aiming to win over players who'd rather cooperate than compete.
If you've been following the game's recent updates, this fits a busy stretch for Embark. We've covered how ARC Raiders Update 1.47.0 added Riposta set variants and fair play fixes ahead of the Frozen Trail first look, as well as the 1.46.1 hotfix that squashed the end-of-round infinite looping bug.
Will stripping out the PvP threat make ARC Raiders more enjoyable, or will it lose some of that lustre without the danger of a knife in the back? Let us know in the comments which side of the toggle you'll be flipping when the test goes live from October 13th to 20th.
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