“We Weren’t Ready for This Level of Love”: Embark Studios on ARC Raiders’ Success and Plans for 2026

The extraction shooter ARC Raiders from Embark Studios has firmly established itself as one of the biggest multiplayer successes of 2025. The game launched in late October, sold millions of copies within its first days, and went on to win Best Multiplayer at The Game Awards 2025.

Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal addressed players and admitted that while the team expected a strong reception, they were unprepared for the scale of the response following release and the spring technical test.

Unlike many online projects, ARC Raiders did not lose momentum weeks after launch. Even now, its Steam concurrent player count remains consistently in the six figures — a rare achievement for a new extraction shooter.

Embark Studios stresses that it views the successful launch merely as a starting point. The game is already receiving regular updates, including quality-of-life improvements, new content, and additional maps. The major Cold Snap update introduced winter conditions, events, and new mechanics — and this marks only the beginning of the planned support cycle.

As part of the winter event, the developers are also giving away 1,000 premium currency tokens — the promotion can be claimed until January 13. For ARC Raiders, 2026 is already being viewed as a key growth phase rather than a fight to stay afloat.

As for the Cold Snap update, the developers released a hotfix today addressing bugs and balance issues introduced in the winter update.