ARC Raiders Dev Admits Embark Was ‘A Bit Skeptical’ About PvE, Now Deciding What Comes Next

ARC Raiders’ public PvE mode test has wrapped, and Embark Studios says it logged more than 30 million rounds played during the week-long trial. Now the Stockholm studio is digging through the data and community feedback before deciding whether a dedicated PvE mode has a future in the game, and executive producer Aleksander Grøndal has shared a bit more about how that decision is shaping up.

A Mode Embark Wasn’t Sure It Wanted

ARC Raiders didn’t start out as the PvPvE extraction shooter players know today. The game was originally built as a PvE-only cooperative looter before Embark pivoted the project, a shift the studio’s chief creative officer Stefan Strandberg detailed in a 2025 video documentary, explaining that the format simply wasn’t working and the team couldn’t consistently replicate satisfying sessions. That history is part of why a return to PvE has been a tougher call than it might look from the outside.

“We were a bit skeptical about bringing such a mode to the game.”

Aleksander Grøndal, Executive Producer, Embark Studios

Grøndal, speaking to MP1st, said Embark is now doing a deep dive into what the concluded test actually means for the game going forward, weighing that earlier hesitation against a test period that drew a genuinely large audience back into PvE.

ARC Raiders’ usual PvPvE tension, the exact dynamic the PvE toggle was built to set aside for a week.

Over 30 Million Rounds, But Still No Verdict

Embark confirmed the scale of the response in an official PvE blog post shortly after the test closed, thanking players while cautioning that reactions to the mode were polarizing across the community. The studio said it needs time to properly understand what the data and player feedback are telling it, and that any decision will prioritize the overall health of the game rather than a quick crowd-pleasing fix. Embark expects to share more in November.

The split isn’t just among players, either. Some in the community argue a permanent PvE mode runs counter to what makes ARC Raiders ARC Raiders, worried it could dilute the loot economy or pull players away from the PvPvE experience the game has been built around since launch. Others simply want the lower-stress option back permanently, pointing to how quickly the test filled up once it went live.

What Shape Could PvE Actually Take

Asked where that leaves the format, Grøndal said the team hasn’t settled on an answer yet and still needs to understand what players actually want out of it before it can even get to a content discussion. He floated a few possibilities, a chill side mode to decompress between regular runs, a challenge mode built around testing skills against the Arc machines, or a standalone full PvE experience, and noted that each path carries very different implications for how future updates would need to be built.

The kind of quiet exploration players got a taste of during the PvE toggle test.

Whatever Embark lands on, raiders looking to make the most of the standard PvPvE experience in the meantime can check out our guide to unlocking ARC Raiders’ Outpost and craft the Grappling Hook while the wait for a verdict continues.

Keep the adventure going! Check out more Gaming News on Gamersuniverse.

Picture Source: Embark Studios