Arc Raiders - PvP vs PvE

Arc Raiders

I wanted to talk about Arc Raiders, both in terms of game design, but also in terms of sociology. This game’s theme is primarily human survival, with people scrounging whatever they can, working together, and surviving against a great threat.

This is a theme in many video games, books, and movies. Ever since the sci-fi genre came alive in the early 1800s, we’ve had this angst about a danger that could bring humanity to the brink of extinction, that would force us to set aside our differences and work together to survive against a greater foe.

The arc Raiders server test just concluded and I played a little bit of the game. Quick Takeaways:

• It looked fantastic.
• Gameplay and movement felt smooth even with 3rd person perspective.
• The sound was crisp!
• It ran amazingly well at 1440p on my 3060 ti.
• No problems even running on Linux (Nobara).

This is very welcome for a modern day title and the gameplay was very enjoyable. I mean have a look at these screenshots. Game looks great with a slightly Alien VHS retro futuristic vibe to it.

Fighting robots that adapt to the damage they take in ways that make it feel like they are actually in the work and not just scripted into it. All of the animations and movement of the enemies are physics based. If they take damage to a thruster, or lose the thruster, they have to adjust how they fly to keep attacking you. That makes the game feel incredibly real. It feels like a world with consistent rules and a consistent challenge that make it so much more immersive.

And if you are thinking “Is this not just another Tarkov clone?” It really isn’t. From my perspective its more about feel and theming. Tarkov and other games have almost none to talk about, whilst Arc Raiders just feels like something more. But its also different when it comes to gameplay in many ways. A great intro to Arc Raiders and how its different is this video by JesseKazam: If You Don’t Get The Arc Raiders Hype, Watch This…

Extraction Shooters

This game gets compared a lot to other extraction shooters, and I feel that is thematically a bit unfair. Arc Raiders feels different. It has a story. It has background. It has enemies that are not human. Even in the intro they talk about how Arc is the real danger and you shouldn’t be too concerned about other Raiders. This is where my first problem begins.

Expecting players in a video game to behave like it’s the real world is just going to leave you disappointed. Video games are primarily made to be fun. They’re supposed to be an escape, an arcade-style experience that lets you engage with people in ways you can’t in real life. Running around shooting robots, fighting other players for loot, and getting into shenanigans is the appeal. However, when the themes of a game bleed into real life concerns about AI and direction of the world, a game about fighting artificially intelligent robots made by humanity can hit a bit too close to home. That may leave some people feeling let down when others shoot players for no reason other than “because I can.” I loaded into a game with the free tier of loot, ran around for about a minute without finding anything (maybe my third round), saw a guy in the distance, ran up to them BAM! Shot in the face. No hello, no talking, nothing. I had no loot, he gained nothing. Two Arcs in the area took them out because they heard the shots. A fun little murder suicide by flying robot.

I’m not used to playing as much online in modern games; I tend to prefer PvE and working together with people. But I do enjoy a lot of PvP games as well. I have many hours in Counter-Strike and Destiny PvP. My favorite parts were always collaboration. So that may lean my expectations for interactions a certain way. So when you create a game with this theme, I feel it points the players in a certain game play direction. Humans going underground, working together, fighting for survival, and then a new player goes out into the wild to gather scraps as a hero for humanity. They crouch and sneak, gathering scraps and fighting robots while avoiding larger dangers. Then, out of the corner of their eye, they see a fellow raider working hard and risking their life. You sneak up hoping to contact them—maybe work together, take down bigger enemies because together you are stronger, gather more loot—and then BAMM! Homemade shotgun shell to the face. This feels just a bit off to me.

I’m all for PvP. I love PvP. But I feel like the theming of this game pushes us to not be so cutthroat with each other. Part of the game is that other people have loot and you want it, that I understand. But why fight other players when it doesn’t even benefit you?

Again, I get that video games are not real life. They are made to be fun. A lot of people think it’s thrilling to have enemies around every corner to test themselves against. Who can gather the most scraps? Who is the best at shooting each other in the face? But I was hoping for a little bit more, especially in a game with these themes. Maybe my experiences was like this because it was a limited release. It was only a server test. Limited player numbers, everyone new to the game, it was also free on steam. But it really felt like the first instinct of many players was to shoot first and not even bother with the questions.

Now, I can already hear the proverbial comments: “skill issue!” I get that. I’m not saying I am the best player. I’m not saying I wasn’t killed by other players who were definitely better than me. My point isn’t that I died, it’s that it felt pointless. You can take other players loot, sure, and that’s part of the thrill. But often the players that are attacked have no loot. I’ve seen players go after others with zero gain, just exposing their position to the Arc and dying in the process. Definition of “skill issue.” Have video games conditioned us to always see other players as opposition rather than teammates? Is everyones trigger finger so itchy that they can’t help it. Is tactical thinking not on the menu anymore? Am I being old and grumpy… maybe?

Game design

A lot of games are designed to put other players in opposition to you. In Arc Raiders, though, the theme is very much humanity versus the robots. It’s in the name. Even from the title, we’re being set up to have a greater foe.

The ability to shoot other players in this type of game is about realism. The physicality of the robots, how they react to the world and to them being damaged, matters. Jumping around with real physics makes them feel part of the world you’re in. There are no hitmarkers, only in-game visuals communicate what is happening, like shields glowing and flares when a player is downed. Everything here aims at immersion and feeling like you’re fighting for survival. You being able to shoot other players and nothing happening would break that realism. Fights breaking out between players, disputes happening, “I had this loot before you did” - “Oh no, you don’t” - “Say that again to my face!” BAMM! Arguments over resources or just trash talk, that’s normal, immersive, realistic. That’s the human experience. What feels wrong, at least for me, is that we aren’t even allowing those situations to unfold.

This is only the opinion of one gamer though. A lot of these points have to do with the actual design of the game and what the devs intend for it to be. Maybe I am reading more into the theming of the game than the devs intended. But I hope not. I hope the vision for the game is bigger than just people fighting amongst themselves. I hope what Embark studios have in store for the players in the future will set the players up so that they have to work together. Of course there will always be those players that shoot at any human shaped group of pixels but I hope its not the majority, and I hope that the devs encourage being a bit more selective with fighting other raiders. Shooting other players should feel like a choice rather than a default action and shooting out in the wild should have consequences. If you want that loot that player has you have to risk having to deal with some Arc. I can imagine player based factions that have a truce amongst themselves to meet up when looting and work together to take down bigger game. The devs adding bigger or harder enemies that require groups of 6 - 10 players to take down with enough loot to go around. And then they can argue who gets the best loot and shoot each other. Its not supposed to be all Kumbaya and s’mores around the fire. ;)

And I think the devs are thinking the same thing. In this video the creator talks about a Q&A the devs did right after the server slam. They talk about how they designed the game around immersion, everything from the physics of the drones to the visuals. And that they hope for a thriving PvP but a focused player base on PvE. Because fights can break out between people but the war is with Arc!

November 30th 2025 - Full release date

I for one am looking forward to playing Arc Raiders and I hope that the people that are raiding with me understand what we are up against and that the devs continue developing the game with their vision in mind. Pushing the game to be all it can be.

Imagine this, After a while of raiding the player base has gathered some loot and gotten strong. They have good weapons and feel like they can take on anyone or anything. A server wide event, the Arc are launching a massive assault! Everyone has to band together to go off and use what they have gathered to take down a massive Arc dreadnought that is about to attack the human settlement! A massive Arc robot dragon monster that requires dozens of players to take down. Players working together, coordinating attacks, healing each other, reviving each other, sharing ammo and resources. Fighting for survival against a greater foe.

I dont know what the end game of Arc Raiders will look like, but I have hope its going to be awesome!