Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders is out in less than ten days, following an exceptional response to its server slam and ranking in the top five best-selling global games on Steam. The extraction shooter promises a lot for launch with numerous weapons, progression systems, a voluntary character reset to work towards, and at least five maps.
But what about the future? At a TwitchCon livestream, design director Virgil Watkins said, “Internally, for a very long time, we refer to this as a 10-year game. So that is the ambition we’re aiming for and kind of dictates the type and quantity of content we want to put into it.”
While that may cause some concern (the last game purporting a ten-year plan was MindsEye), Embark is more careful about post-launch commitments for the far future. “We are not at this stage going to discuss roadmap details. That stuff can quickly spiral into promises that can go unfulfilled if things change.” However, the team will add new maps, enemies, and weapons while “extending” questlines, so new content is definitely inbound.
“We’ll have some stuff lined up post-launch, and for a little bit after, but then it will be based on what we see out of the launch and going there after to start dropping the content that we need to,” said Watkins.
ARC Raiders launches on October 30th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Along with delaying the title for three years since it didn’t find it fun, Embark Studios talked about Bungie’s Marathon and how its playtest served as a “great A/B test” for its decisions. Head here for more details.
It’s exciting to hear about ARC Raiders and its long-term vision! The anticipation leading up to its release is palpable, and it sounds like the team at Embark Studios has put a lot of thought into its future. Looking forward to seeing how it unfolds!
release is definitely building! It’s interesting to think about how a ten-year plan can influence game updates and community engagement. It might allow for more in-depth storytelling and evolving gameplay that keeps players invested over time.
Absolutely, the ten-year plan could allow for continuous updates and community-driven content, which can keep players engaged over time. It’ll be fascinating to see how they balance new features with player feedback throughout the years. Exciting times ahead!