Arc Raiders PvE Mode Test Could Split Game, Dev Says

What if Arc Raiders, the game you know for its tense PvPvE extraction shooter action, suddenly offered a pure PvE experience? That's exactly what Embark Studios is about to find out. From October 13 through October 20, the developer will run a limited test of a PvE mode—something fans have been asking for since day one.

Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal tells me this test is a crucial step toward answering a question that's been lingering since launch. Originally, Arc Raiders was a pure PvE game about fighting giant robots. It only pivoted to a PvPvE mix very late in development. The devs also ditched the free-to-play structure and went all-in on the extraction shooter genre. Miraculously, it paid off. So going back to pure PvE feels like a huge risk.

"Naturally, we were a bit like, 'Are we gonna open this door? What does that mean?'" Grøndal says. "We had that question ongoing for a long time, maybe even too long, to be fair." While the PvE mode is just a limited test for now, Grøndal hints there's potential for much more. When asked if he could imagine a world where Arc Raiders is split into two games—the one we know and a pure PvE version—he said "it's very possible."

"I mean, the community is already split along those lines," he continues. "If the game eventually will represent that? Quite possibly. I think it's important to respect how the players want to enjoy the game, even if it doesn't necessarily fully gel with what we thought the game was initially or how we designed the game to be initially. It's possible. Of course, it creates some challenges on our end. We need to figure out what we really mean by that."

But it's not all smooth sailing. There are real concerns about what a PvE mode could do to Arc Raiders. Will it ruin the game's tension? Will it undermine the camaraderie when you aren't forced to choose between friendly and hostile? Will it warp the economy or split the player base? "I mean, all of these are valid risks, right?" Grøndal responds. "Which is one of the reasons why we wanted to run a test which is somewhat limited around some of the higher-end stuff. It will affect, or it has a chance of affecting, the overall experience. This is also why we wanted to just get it out there, look at the data, look at what the feedback says, and then really figure out what the best way forward is."

He adds: "I think there's a lot of valid concerns, and internally at the studio, that has been expressed, both sides of that coin. It's not like everyone was high-fiving Aleks when we introduced this idea to do this test. That's not the case. There were some real concerns there too. But at the end of the day, I really feel like we need to answer this question, at least to ourselves, and of course also to the players."

Meanwhile, the Frozen Trail update is already making waves. The patch notes are full of sentences players have dreamed of for a year—like "You can now open the map while downed." That alone might be worth hopping back in. But the bigger question remains: could Arc Raiders eventually become two games? Only time—and this test—will tell. What do you think? Would you play a pure PvE version of Arc Raiders, or does the PvPvE tension make the game for you?