Can't we all just get along: ARC Raiders developers consider bringing back PvE mode following successful test
Translated with AI from the Russian original.
A significant number of the game's fans prefer fighting robots rather than each other.
In early October, Embark Studios introduced a temporary toggle in ARC Raiders that allowed players to opt out of the standard PvPvE format in favor of an exclusively PvE experience. The experiment lasted for a week, after which the option to play in the new mode was disabled. In PvE matches, participants could not damage one another and instead teamed up to battle AI-controlled enemies—the ARC robots.
As executive producer Aleksander Grøndal explained in an interview with MP1st, the team has not yet made a definitive decision regarding the mode's future.
Now that we've concluded the PvE matchmaking toggle test, we're taking a closer look at what all of this means. Naturally, for historical reasons, we approached the idea of adding such a mode with a degree of skepticism, but now we need to discuss how we want to move forward.
Originally, the project was envisioned as a cooperative PvE looter shooter, but during production, Embark determined that the initial concept wasn't coming together into a complete gameplay experience. Ultimately, the studio shifted its development direction and turned the title into an extraction PvPvE shooter, where players must face both AI-controlled adversaries and other participants.
According to Grøndal, it is still difficult to tell whether the developers have tapped into a compelling new facet of the game or if the audience has simply developed a stronger appetite for a calmer experience over time.
I think it could be a bit of both. The game has a certain appeal, and some players want to experience it without the stress. Perhaps this is a sign that ARC Raiders can attract a broader audience, and we need to figure out how to support them. The main challenge is how to accomplish that without compromising the core concept of the game.
Bringing back PvE would require not just technical adjustments from Embark, but also a reconsideration of the project's roadmap. The studio would have to figure out how to support two distinct gameplay formats within a single live-service model without degrading the quality of updates for PvPvE enthusiasts.
Grøndal noted that, above all, the developers need to understand what kind of mode the audience is really looking for. Among the potential options, he highlighted several concepts:
- A relaxed auxiliary mode—an opportunity to take a break from high-stakes PvPvE matches and play at a more casual pace
- A challenge mode—a standalone format designed to test skills exclusively against AI-controlled opponents
- A full-fledged PvE experience—an independent direction for the game entirely free of encounters with other players
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