- Primary Subject: ARC Raiders
- Key Update: Embark Studios found that narrative-driven players, especially The Last of Us fans, responded more positively than expected, influencing the game’s direction
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: March 30, 2026
- Quick Answer: ARC Raiders’ playtests revealed that The Last of Us players unexpectedly enjoyed the game the most, leading Embark to shift toward an “extraction adventure” approach that balances PvP with exploration and co-op elements.
An otherwise predictable ARC Raiders playtest became more meaningful for Embark Studios, with the team tying player feedback to the genres players typically engage with.
This allowed them to see not just if people enjoyed the PvP, but who enjoyed it and why.
Unsurprisingly, players coming from traditionally competitive or PvP-heavy games responded positively early on.
Players who enjoy games like Escape from Tarkov, PUBG, Delta Force, Rust, and Hunt: Showdown were naturally drawn to ARC Raiders’ combat, given their familiarity with high-stakes, player-driven encounters.
Those coming from major competitive shooters including Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, Counter-Strike, and Apex Legends sat somewhere in the middle, with feedback that was neither strongly positive nor negative.
Why Were The Last of Us Players the Biggest Surprise?
However, the biggest surprise came from a different group of players, as those who usually prefer narrative-driven or co-op games (especially fans of The Last of Us) ended up rating the game much higher than expected.
This group also included players from games like Elden Ring, Destiny, The Division, and Helldivers 2, which overall leaned toward lower PvP satisfaction.
Within that same group, The Last of Us players showed the strongest positive response to the experience.
According to production director Caio Braga, speaking in an interview with GamesRadar+, this wasn’t just surprising, but became one of the most important takeaways from testing since these players didn’t reject PvP entirely.
Instead, they reworked the approach, introducing PvP in controlled moments rather than letting it dominate the overall loop. In other words, they were interested in tension and unpredictability, but not in a nonstop competitive environment.
This difference pushed Embark to reconsider how ARC Raiders should be positioned and designed, as the game originally leaned more toward a traditional extraction shooter, especially after internal shifts that prioritized PvP.
The feedback showed that enjoyment wasn’t simply tied to having PvP, but to how frequently it happened and how it fit into the overall experience.
Different audiences were clearly enjoying the same mechanics in completely different ways, making it difficult to satisfy everyone with a single approach.
As a result, the developers began shifting their direction, moving away from strictly calling it an extraction shooter and instead introducing the term “extraction adventure” to better capture its broader appeal.
Combat and player interactions remain at the heart of the game, but it also aims to support exploration, cooperation, and a more flexible pace for players who enjoy immersive, narrative-style gameplay.
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