I remember when Embark Studios first dropped that trailer back in 2021. It looked like a pure, chaotic co-op romp against giant machines falling from the sky. Swarms of drones. Massive, spindly tripod bosses. Explosions that actually looked like they had weight. Then everything changed. The developers went quiet, internal testing shifted the gears, and suddenly the "Arc Raiders playtest" became the most talked-about pivot in recent extraction shooter history.
Honestly, it caught a lot of people off guard.
If you’re looking for a simple Left 4 Dead clone with robots, you’re basically going to be disappointed. That game doesn't exist anymore. What we have now—based on the recent technical tests and the closed sessions running through late 2024 and into 2025—is something much more tense, much more punishing, and frankly, much more interesting than a standard wave-based shooter. It’s an extraction game. But it’s not just "Tarkov with robots."
What actually happens in an Arc Raiders playtest?
The core loop is grounded in a ruined, post-apocalyptic version of Calabria. You play as a Raider, a survivor who has to venture out from an underground settlement called Speranza. The goal is simple on paper: get in, scavenge for mechanical parts and leftover tech, and get out before the ARC—the mysterious orbital mechanical threat—decides to glass the area or another player decides your loot looks better than theirs.
It's sweaty.
During the playtest sessions, the first thing you notice is the sound design. Embark has some serious Battlefield veterans on the team (including Patrick Söderlund), and it shows. The way the wind whistles through rusted rebar or the mechanical clunk-thud of a drone searching for you creates this constant low-level anxiety. You aren't some super-soldier. You're a scavenger. If you run out into the open, you're dead.
One of the most striking things about the Arc Raiders playtest experience is how the environment feels alive. It isn't a static map. The ARC machines aren't just patrolling; they are reacting to the noise you make. If you get into a firefight with a rival squad, you aren't just worried about them. You’re worried about the massive "Mother" ship or the smaller "Tick" drones that are going to swarm the sound of gunfire. It adds a layer of "should I even take this shot?" that most shooters lack.
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Survival is more than just shooting
Scavenging is the heartbeat of the game. You aren't just looking for better guns. You’re looking for things like "Speranza Credits," medical supplies, and raw materials to upgrade your base of operations.
There's this specific tension when your backpack is full. Your movement feels a little heavier. Your stakes are higher. In the playtest, I saw players who would literally crawl through bushes to avoid a single drone because they had a rare circuit board they needed for a quest. That’s the extraction magic. It’s the "gear fear" that makes your heart race when you finally see the extraction flare go up.
The big pivot from Co-op to extraction
A lot of people are still salty about the shift to PvPvE. I get it. The original pitch was a "free-to-play cooperative third-person shooter." Now, it’s a premium ($40 USD) extraction shooter. That is a massive 180-degree turn in business model and gameplay philosophy.
Why did they do it?
If you look at the current market, pure co-op games struggle with "evergreen" content. You play the missions, you win, you’re done. By moving the Arc Raiders playtest focus toward an extraction model, Embark created a game where the players provide the content for each other. Every encounter is different because humans are unpredictable. One group might ignore you. Another might hunt you across the entire map for a single can of oil.
It’s a gamble. But based on the feedback from the 2024 technical tests, the gunplay is solid enough to carry it. The movement feels "weighty." It isn't like Apex Legends where you're sliding at 50 miles per hour. It’s more deliberate. You have to commit to your actions.
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The ARC threat is actually scary
In most games, the AI is just fodder. In the Arc Raiders playtest, the ARC feels like an oppressive force. They don't bleed. They don't feel pain. They just keep coming.
- Drones: Fast, annoying, and they alert everyone to your position.
- Walkers: These look like something out of a 70s sci-fi novel. Spindly legs, heavy lasers. If you see one, you hide.
- The Environment: It's not just the robots. The weather shifts, visibility drops, and suddenly you're lost in a ruin with something metallic clicking in the shadows behind you.
The AI doesn't just stand there. They use tactics. They'll try to flank you or pin you down while bigger units move in. It forces a level of cooperation that you don't see in many other extraction shooters where everyone just plays as a "lone wolf" sniper.
Technical performance and the "Embark Look"
Let’s talk about the visuals. Embark is using Unreal Engine 5, and they are doing things with lighting that most studios haven't figured out yet. The destruction is a big part of it too. While it’s not "Bad Company 2" levels of flattening buildings, the way cover breaks down during a fight makes engagements feel dynamic.
In the playtest, the optimization was surprisingly decent for a beta. Most mid-range rigs were hitting a steady 60 FPS at 1440p, though there were some definite stutters when the larger ARC bosses spawned in. The art style is "Retro-Future." It’s got this weird 1970s analog vibe mixed with high-tech robotics. Think "Star Wars" meets "The Terminator" in the Mediterranean. It's beautiful in a very depressing way.
Is Arc Raiders still Free-to-Play?
No. This is a big point of confusion. During the early Arc Raiders playtest announcements, it was billed as F2P. However, Embark recently confirmed it will be a "premium" title, likely launching at a mid-tier price point around $40.
This is actually a good thing for the health of the game. F2P extraction shooters are notorious for cheater problems because there is no "barrier to entry" for someone to create a new account after getting banned. A paid model usually means a more dedicated community and better long-term support without the game being cluttered with egregious microtransactions that ruin the immersion.
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What players are getting wrong about the test
People keep comparing this to The Division or Destiny. It’s really not that.
There are no "bullet sponges" here in the traditional sense. If you shoot a robot in its glowing blue weak point, it’s going to take massive damage. If you shoot it in its armored plating, you're wasting ammo. It’s tactical. It’s about precision.
Another misconception is that it’s a "Battle Royale." It’s not. You don't have to be the last one standing. In fact, many successful runs in the Arc Raiders playtest involve zero player kills. You can just be a rat. You can hide in the basement of a ruined house, wait for the chaos to die down, grab some scrap, and sneak out. That’s a valid way to play.
Practical steps for getting into the next playtest
If you want to see what the fuss is about, you can't just download the game. You have to be proactive.
- Steam Request Access: This is the primary way. Go to the Arc Raiders Steam page and hit the "Request Access" button for the Playtest. It’s a lottery, but it’s the most direct route.
- The Discord Factor: Join the official Embark Studios Discord. They often announce "keys" or "waves" of invites there before they happen.
- Hardware Check: Make sure you have an SSD. Testing has shown that the map streaming in UE5 causes major hitching on old-school hard drives. You’ll also want at least 16GB of RAM.
- The "Vibe" Check: If you’re coming from Call of Duty, slow down. The players who survived the longest in the playtest were the ones who used their binoculars more than their triggers.
The game is currently slated for a 2025 release, which means the upcoming playtests are going to be much closer to the "final" vision of the game. Expect more polished UI, better balancing, and hopefully, more maps than just the initial Calabria ruins.
Don't go in expecting a mindless shooter. Go in expecting a game that wants to punish you for being loud, rewards you for being smart, and occasionally terrifies you with a three-story-tall robot that sounds like a dying orchestra. It’s a weird, beautiful, stressful mess, and it’s easily one of the most unique projects coming out of the Swedish dev scene right now.
Keep an eye on your email for that invite; the ARC is already watching.