Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders ended last year by reportedly pushing Steam to its most lucrative December in history, but it’s not slowing down at all for 2026. After selling over 12.4 million copies as of last week, Circana analyst and senior director Mat Piscatella has revealed that the extraction shooter had the most engagement on Steam as of January 10th.
What makes this all the more incredible is that it’s the ninth straight week that it achieved this feat, beating the free-to-play Counter-Strike 2 and Battlefield 6, which had a much larger launch in terms of sales. It even scored ahead of heavy hitters like Marvel Rivals, Helldivers 2, Rocket League, Warframe, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
While its console rankings aren’t nearly as dominant, it’s still in eighth place on PlayStation and seventh place on Xbox. Plus, you have to consider that the top five most-played games have remained relatively static since 2024.
What’s next for ARC Raiders, especially with Embark promising a roadmap “soon”? Aside from multiple new maps across a “spectrum of size,” you can apparently expect a new map condition this week in Toxic Swamps. The developer is also looking to implement bigger ARC threats, but those expecting Speranza to become a hub that players can traverse will have to wait a bit longer.
