A rift seems to be forming between the PvE and PvP Arc Raiders community. The PvE players believe Arc Raiders is an extraction shooter meant to be a friendlier mix of fighting the environment and players. The competitive players believe Arc Raiders is a PvP game, with roots that reach back to The Division's dark zone PvP-centric multiplayer, and that if you can shoot people then there should be no complaints.
This fissure between the two play styles only exists because Embark Studios, creators of Arc Raiders, are catering to both audiences. Other extraction shooters, like Escape from Tarkov, cater to a competitive audience. Embark Studios is straddling the fence, and we know what happens when you don't take a side: misfortune. They need to remember what Arc Raiders' identity is.
In an interview with GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi, Embark Studio's CEO Patrick Soderlund said “The game was without other players for a long time. And yes, there were instances where the game was fun, and there were areas where it worked quite well. But also the minute you added other players and then use subtle ways of signaling — you don't know how many players are on the server, you don't know how many players have died, you don’t know how many players are around you—but we signal to you that there are other players. You hear them shooting. That's why audio is a very important part of this game. You hear them encountering Arc and other players. You see the raider flares as they go down.
“At one point—it was funny—I came back into a playtest and the raider flares were gone. I'm like, ‘Why did you remove those?’ And they're like, ‘Well, well…’ So I just said, ‘Just bring them back.’ They're such an iconic part of this game.
“And they also signal to other players that action is happening somewhere. It makes it feel populated in an important way. And you also know that there could be a downed raider somewhere. Should I go there? Should I take the risk and go there to see whether I can find something, or have they been brought back to life? There's a tension element in that that's very important.”
Tension is the identity of Arc Raiders. If you remove tension, it's no better than a round of Warzone. Before players were added, Arc Raiders had tension, but Embark experimented with adding players, and then found more tension. Adding humans has been undeniably effective. If you watch someone play Arc Raiders, you'll immediately feel it from hearing buzzing miniguns, shots popping off in the distance, ominous footsteps, creepy droids on the ground that seemingly appear from nowhere, and a bunch of other sounds. But there was a side-effect when Embark added human players: human decisions. By adding PvP, Arc Raiders immediately became about shooting other people—maybe not to the studio, but to the players. And it's what the players think that matters.
But let's not be naive. This was a calculated decision. What gets more publicity? The game with a player versus computer controlled environment or players dynamically shooting other players? 343 Industries (now Halo Studios) saved the best showing of Halo Infinite with its multiplayer. It went viral. Battlefield 6 is traditionally known for its multiplayer and moments, but imagine how dynamic that would have been if it were just bot lobbies. Embark Studios understood this was not only going to create tension, but it would be a much more dynamic game, making it easier to sell.
Humans added tension, but doing that sacrificed one of the few—if not only—PvE-oriented extraction shooters on the market. Now Embark is starting to feel the split. In response, they've implemented matchmaking parameters to separate the play styles. It seems to be working. But the pool is forever polluted. As Embark includes new content, the play styles will intermingle, creating an endless loop of complaints that will never be solved.
Adding PvP was a fantastic short-term decision. It increased the tension and helped sell the game. But long-term, if PvE players aren't able to adequately distance themselves from PvP players, they'll stop playing. And that will leave Embark with another problem: PvP players who are susceptible to the whims of the latest shiny competitive multiplayer.
Embark Studios got greedy. Now they have to figure out how to balance two expectations and keep a strong player-base. Good luck.
