Forget GTA and Call of Duty—ARC Raiders Shows the Way Forward
What if the future of gaming wasn’t about astronomical budgets, but about smarter, more agile, and equally ambitious productions? With ARC Raiders, Embark Studios has delivered more than just a critical and commercial hit—it’s set a new benchmark for the industry’s heavyweights.
As the video game industry faces uncertainty—studio closures, restructuring, and skyrocketing production costs—a few titles are shaking up the status quo. ARC Raiders is a prime example.
Image credit: Embark Studios
The ARC Raiders model versus industry giants
On a recent episode of Pachter Factor Live, analyst Michael Pachter revealed that ARC Raiders was developed on a budget of around $75 million, including marketing. That’s a stark contrast to the jaw-dropping sums spent on other modern blockbusters. The game was built over three years by a team of about 70 developers—a relatively lean setup by today’s standards.
With over 12 million copies sold and estimated revenues topping $500 million, ARC Raiders is already a runaway success. Embark Studios’ shooter proves you can create a global hit without burning through a fortune. And according to Pachter, total revenue could eventually hit the billion-dollar mark.
ARC Raiders as the new industry reference
Referencing Ubisoft’s recent struggles—including the cancellation of six projects, among them the highly anticipated Prince of Persia remake—Pachter didn’t mince words about the industry’s budget excesses. In his view, studios shouldn’t compare themselves to juggernauts like GTA, FIFA, or Call of Duty, but instead look to ARC Raiders’ meteoric rise. Its success is built on several key pillars:
- A reasonable development cycle that avoids team burnout and runaway costs.
- A clear gameplay vision, sharpened by a smart pivot to PvPvE.
- Accessible pricing that encouraged massive adoption from day one.
- Strong post-launch support with regular, ambitious updates.
Pachter is blunt in his criticism of Ubisoft’s drawn-out development cycles. Spending five years on a game that sells only five million copies, he argues, just isn’t sustainable. “Three years is more than enough,” he insists. His comments echo Ubisoft’s recent massive restructuring as the company struggles to regain profitability.
Still, Pachter acknowledges that a few studios can afford sky-high budgets. He points to Rockstar Games and GTA 6, rumored to have cost between $1.5 and $2 billion to develop. The crucial difference? “They’ll make that $2 billion back in the first week,” he explains. GTA’s legendary status and enormous fanbase mean ROI is virtually guaranteed.
A success story born from a bold pivot
The journey of ARC Raiders is worth a closer look. First revealed at The Game Awards 2021, the project’s development was anything but smooth since its inception in 2018–2019, right after Embark Studios was founded. Originally envisioned as a pure PvE experience, the game failed to win over the team internally.
That’s when the decision was made to pivot to a PvPvE model, delaying the launch and even allowing The Finals—initially slated to release later—to hit the market first. This radical change paid off: launched in October 2025 between two industry titans (Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7), ARC Raiders carved out its own space and won Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards.
Today, Embark’s extraction shooter continues to draw hundreds of thousands of concurrent players every day. The Swedish studio is riding this momentum with an ambitious update roadmap. The first update of the year, Headwinds, dropped on January 27, introducing a new condition for the Buried City map and a 1v3 matchmaking option. A new map is slated for April, along with a massive ARC enemy that the community suspects is the Emperor.
Even though ARC Raiders has faced its share of turbulence—including a major DDoS attack that temporarily made the game unplayable for millions—Embark Studios’ title remains a shining example of success. With a growing, passionate community, robust support, and a clear long-term vision, ARC Raiders stands as one of the most inspiring models in modern gaming, with a future as ambitious as its present.
ARC Raiders, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
