Our full chat with Embark: How Arc Raiders was saved mid-development, the balancing process, and the possibility of vehicles

When your AAA game isn't fun: How Arc Raiders was saved - YouTube When your AAA game isn't fun: How Arc Raiders was saved - YouTube
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Earlier this month at the 2026 Game Developers Conference, Embark production director Caio Braga gave a talk titled "When your AAA game isn't fun: the Arc Raiders story of starting over with intent."

One topic that was top of mind for Braga was the community's influence on updates and how behavior somewhat differed from playtests pre-release. Embark has its fair share of cooperative sessions among the studio, but Braga says the studio tends toward bloodthirsty PvP, including one particularly ruthless coworker.

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"His nickname is the Hatch Camper. He loves PvP in the game. He's like Spider-Man: He's here, then he jumps out and ziplines behind you again. He kills whole squads all the time. He's very good at the game," Braga said.

"So we have both: We have people trying to have fun encounters, and some people just trying to be very efficient. That's good because we have a mix—that's what we want from the players as well."

Some other topics Braga touched on: How the Arc we know now were once hated by early players, the unexpected passion for PvE, and where Embark stands on adding vehicles to Arc raiders (the prototypes exist!).

Arc Raiders roadmapArc Raiders best skillsArc Raiders best weaponsArc Raiders ExpeditionsArc Raiders questsArc Raiders Weather Monitor ProjectArc Raiders Trophy Display Project

Arc Raiders roadmap: New and improved
Arc Raiders best skills: Survive the surface
Arc Raiders best weapons: Just don't lose them
Arc Raiders Expeditions: Retire your Raider
Arc Raiders quests: All the missions and how to beat 'em
Arc Raiders Weather Monitor Project: Beat the wind
Arc Raiders Trophy Display Project: Big game hunter

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

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