Arc Raiders recently wrapped up an extremely popular playtest that, judging by the reaction from players and press, went over rather well. Now, the publisher behind the game has confirmed it was a resounding success. As the Escape From Tarkov challenger gears up to take on the king of extraction shooters and fend off fellow newcomers like Marathon, Nexon says that Arc Raider's second tech test "exceeded our expectations" considerably.
In the slate of extraction games, Embark Studios' personally excited about Arc Raiders for a long time too, but I wasn't sure if it would grab players and stand out enough to generate serious hype. However, over the last few weeks, that perspective has completely changed.
From the general discourse I've been seeing online, there seems to be a surprising amount of excitement and for Arc Raiders following its most recent tech test – something that can't be said with as much conviction when it comes to Marathon. There are plenty of people (myself included) still very keen for Marathon, and its recent alpha certainly impressed some, but it hasn't portrayed itself as the fresh, must-play title I was hoping for.
Now, Arc Raiders' publisher Nexon has revealed in its latest earnings report that it too was extremely impressed by the tech test.
"A large, global tech test conducted earlier this month significantly exceeded our expectations for key metrics, including wishlisting on Steam," it says. In a separate quote, it confirms that Steam wishlist numbers were 50% higher than it anticipated. "Participation and early retention were particularly good in Western markets. With very limited advertising, the game was a top six most-watched games on Twitch and sured 20 million views on YouTube."
Thanks to this surge of wishlists, you'll now find Arc Raiders in 12th position on Steam's wishlist charts, sitting proudly above highly anticipated games like Slay the Spire 2 and Mafia The Old Country. For comparison, Marathon is way down in 55th, but it's worth factoring in that its Steam page hasn't been up as long as Arc Raiders' has. It's still a pretty big gulf though.
Nexon adds that "the Embark team is now working to integrate player and polish the game ahead of the launch." Arc Raiders is still set to arrive at some point this year, but no exact release date has been given just yet and the new earnings report doesn't narrow things down either. The Marathon release date has already been locked in for September 23, so there's a strong chance the two games will launch within just a few months or maybe even a few weeks of each other.
Truthfully, I really want both of these projects to succeed and take the fight to genre stalwarts like Escape From Tarkov and Hunt Showdown. But if there's one that looks in the best shape to challenge them, it's Arc Raiders right now – something I didn't think I'd be saying post-Marathon's reveal and alpha. Other extraction newcomers like Exoborne and Sand could also throw some curveballs, and Marathon will no doubt improve by the time an inevitable open beta rolls around. But it's Embark's third-person shooter that's leading the way at the moment.
Until we hear more about all of these projects, get a similar fix in some of the best FPS games around.
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