ARC Raiders storms Steam with big sales, bigger momentum – and a clear roadmap
Embark’s ARC Raiders arrived with the kind of weekend surge most shooters only dream about. Fresh off a buzzy final beta, the third-person PvPvE extraction shooter didn’t just edge past the studio’s prior hit The Finals – it blasted beyond its concurrent peak despite not being free-to-play. Two days ago it stabilized around 354K concurrent players, a mark that plants it at roughly 38th on Steam’s all-time chart. For a premium release, that’s rare air.
Players, of course, are the heartbeat; sales are the lifeblood. Early indicators suggest there’s plenty of both. Tallying estimates derived from SteamDB tracking, the game is already sitting between 1.6 million units (Gamalytic) and 1.9 million units (VG Insights/PlayTracker) on Steam alone. Factor in releases on the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and a reasonable back-of-the-envelope reads: the total could be hovering near three million copies sold across platforms. It’s a classic perfect storm – strong word of mouth, a defined fantasy, and a price that hits the sweet spot.
About that price: at $40, ARC Raiders lands in the increasingly popular “budget premium” tier. It’s especially notable given that many shooter fans just dropped $70 on Battlefield 6 mere weeks earlier and still found room (and appetite) for this new loop. The pitch is different enough to coexist: ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction game where squads dive into hostile zones, tangle with Raiders and machines, and then sweat the most dangerous part – getting out alive with their haul. The risk-reward calculus is gripping: every encounter is a story generator, every escape a small triumph.
Accessibility, platforms, and the cloud question
As a multi-platform launch, onboarding feels welcoming. Console players get a clean fit on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, PC players get the high-end frills, and cloud users on services like GeForce Now can join the party when local rigs can’t cope. One honest concern voiced by fresh recruits: in a PvPvE mix, cloud or controller players worry about getting farmed by mouse-and-keyboard vets. That anxiety is real across competitive games, but ARC Raiders mitigates some of it with squad play, map knowledge, and gear progression – tools that reward smart decision-making as much as pure aim. If you’re coming in via the cloud, treat early hours as recon: learn extraction routes, study machine behaviors, and pick fights you can finish.
What’s next: a post-launch roadmap with teeth
Embark isn’t leaving momentum to chance. The studio has already laid out a near-term roadmap. Later this month, expect a new map – Stella Montis – alongside new Quests, fresh gameplay items, and two imposing Arc machines: Matriarch and Shredder. There’s also a community unlock event designed to nudge everyone into shared goals. December layers on even more: additional Quests, a new Raider deck, the Snowfall map condition, a limited-time event dubbed “Flickering Flames”, and the Expedition departure window feature. Beyond dated beats, the team lists ongoing work on new feats and trials, extra map conditions, cosmetics, and broad quality-of-life updates.
Why the early surge matters
High CCU validates the pitch; strong sell-through funds the runway. A $40 sticker paired with reliable content drops is a sustainable loop if retention holds. Extraction games live or die on cadence: new places to scout, new enemies to master, new reasons to roll the dice and risk the bag. With Stella Montis and December’s bundle already queued, ARC Raiders signals it understands the assignment. Official sales figures from Embark will tell the full story; for now, the numbers we do have – and the player buzz – suggest a hit with legs.