ARC Raiders is officially out, with thousands of players already getting to explore Embark Studios’ multiplayer extraction shooter.
While it’s all sunshine and rainbows for a portion of the player base that had been dying to get their hands on the game after the Server Slam Beta, there are already others complaining, especially with how ARC Raiders handles its cosmetics.
The ARC Raiders Cosmetic Problem
In the Arc Raiders subreddit, user u/Vovancheg31 called out Embark Studios for its egregious cosmetics pricing, calling it “Brutal.” Most of the game’s cosmetics are priced at 2,000-2,400 Raider Tokens. These Raider Tokens are ARC Raiders’ premium currency, with 2,000 Raider Tokens being roughly around $20. And the worst part? Raider Tokens can’t be collected in-game, but only in its battle pass.
Some of the paid cosmetics in-game, like the Hivekeepers Set, cost around 2,200, with the Mirage Set being the most expensive one at 2,400 Raider Tokens. Of course, players aren’t too happy with this pricing distribution, so they plead with Embark Studios to take another look; with some even hoping it’s just a placeholder.
Players even start comparing it to Embark’s other game, The Finals, a free-to-play game with far cheaper cosmetics, where its most expensive bundle costs $20.
Is ARC Raiders Pay-to-Win?
While the issues behind its pricing are purely for its cosmetic skins (which are optional), other players are also calling out Embark Studios for its Raider Deck, containing ‘pay-to-win’ items like special grenades that can track enemies for a short while. Players, however, defended Embark Studios on this end, saying that the Raider Deck is free, as well as the currency to unlock the skins. That means anyone can have access to these important items.
Players are also worried that it might be a sign that Embark could introduce a paid Battle Pass in the future, containing overpowered weapons and resources that can give them a significant advantage over regular users. Hopefully, this won’t be the case, but for now, players are exercising caution.
Should Follow Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2
Players also weighed in on the ARC Raiders cosmetics issue, saying that Embark Studios should follow what Arrowhead does with Helldivers 2, as players can acquire premium currency called “Super Credits” by just playing the game.
ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter, so dropping in and out is a constant gameplay loop. Putting the game’s premium “Raider Tokens” in-game could give an increase in replay value and prevent more players from complaining. Embark could even make it ‘stealable,’ meaning other players could take it away from you if they incapacitated you during your run.
While this drama isn’t that big of a deal to the rest of its community, these users are simply stating that paying for a $40 product with paid cosmetics feels like highway robbery. After all, buying them is just optional. Even other players said that they’re “leaving it to the whales” to pay for these expensive skins.
This doesn’t take away the fact that ARC Raiders is shaping up to be a great game. As of the moment, it has already racked up 240,000 concurrent players on its launch day on Steam with over 5,000 positive reviews.
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