ARC Raiders, the highly anticipated post-apocalyptic sci-fi PvPvE extraction shooter developed by Embark Studios, officially launched on October 30, 2025, across PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, marking a significant milestone for the studio following extensive playtesting phases. Priced at $40 with a launch discount bringing it to $34.99 on Steam, the game quickly shattered expectations by surpassing 100,000 concurrent players on Steam within just 30 minutes of going live at 2:30 AM PST, outpacing its previous beta peak and climbing steadily to a record-breaking high of 264,673 concurrent players later that day.
This launch performance not only exceeded the October “Server Slam” open beta’s concurrent count of 189,668 but also topped Embark’s prior title, The Finals, which peaked at 242,619 players upon its December 2023 release, demonstrating the studio’s growing appeal in the extraction shooter genre despite competition from heavyweights like Battlefield 6. At its zenith, ARC Raiders claimed the top spot on Steam’s global best-sellers chart, displacing titles such as Battlefield 6 (which fell to second), The Outer Worlds 2, and Dispatch, while securing fourth place overall among the platform’s most-played games at the time.
Early player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with Steam reviews earning a “Very Positive” rating based on over 7,500 submissions, reflecting an 88-89% approval rate that highlights the game’s tight third-person gunplay, balanced loot-fight-extract loop, engaging PvE combat against robotic ARC enemies, and a distinctive retro sci-fi aesthetic blending rugged post-apocalyptic ruins with 80s-inspired techno vibes. No major technical issues were reported during the initial rollout, and while specific future content details remain forthcoming, the launch’s success underscores ARC Raiders’ position as one of 2025’s standout multiplayer shooters, building on a year of closed betas that had already generated substantial hype.
