It’s not every day that I can sit down, play a game and experience camaraderie, trust, loyalty, betrayal, hate and euphoria all in the span of 30 minutes.
Embark Studios, the creators of “Arc Raiders,” have found the recipe for success in gaming and created an addictive experience for players.
Since its release on Oct. 30, 2025, the game has retained its player base, a sight that is rare in gaming today. At its launch, “Arc Raiders” had 459,000 active players on Steam. In the last 30 days, the game has averaged 465,000 players.
For perspective, Battlefield 6 launched in the same month with around 650,000 gamers. In the last 30 days, that number has dropped to 124,000.
There’s a reason for the success, and it has to do with the development team and the care they put into the game. Embark has grown to over 300 employees, but only a portion of them were working on the development of “Arc Raiders.”
This smaller team size has been a trend in gaming recently. Small to midsize development teams have created the best games as of late. Claire Obscure’s “Expedition 33” won nine awards at The Game Awards in 2025 with a main development team of around 30-50 people. Supergiant Games’ “Hades” won game of the year at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2021, with less than 30 people working on the game.
Embark Studios has been transparent and communicative with its community, listening closely to fans and delivering on promises like bug fixes and updates.
But what makes this game so addictive?
The community and gameplay loop are intoxicating.
The point of the game is simple. Load into a map, shoot robots and find loot and better weapons to upgrade your gear. Then you have to extract without dying.
One caveat is that everybody in your lobby can eliminate you at any moment. This is where the fun begins.
The game has a built-in proximity chat, so you can talk to other players who are nearby.
Imagine this scenario: you kill a big robot and take the cool loot that it drops. Then, as you’re about to extract, you get shot in the back and the last 30 minutes of your life were pointless.
This is absolutely soul-crushing … unless you’re the one shooting.
The game creates a constant state of paranoia that is addictive because it keeps you on your toes and constantly fighting between trusting your gut and trying to make a new friend.
I once spent 15 minutes shooting robots with a random guy I bumped into during a match. He was cool and funny. Then, once I was extracting with all my loot. I was gunned down by that heartless monster. I haven’t been the same since.
To me, this is the essence of gaming. When your personal emotions are affected, it goes beyondpast the screen. I felt personally betrayed. But after that match, I began doing a similar thing to fill that void and then questioned who I was as a person.
No game has put me through such a rollercoaster in years. I believe many others feel the same, which is why the player base has increased since launch. The community has been highly active and multiple streamers and content creators have made a name for themselves off of this game. A streamer called The Burnt Peanut won the VTuber of the Year award at the Streamer Awards in 2025, with “Arc Raiders” being one of his main games.
The subreddit has 640,000 members and continues to grow every day. The developers host Q&As frequently and there are countless guides and tips for new players.
All in all, the mix of caring developers with reality-changing gameplay and an engaged community has created an addictive gaming experience that I haven’t been able to shake off.
What a beautiful game that reflects the human condition. 9.5/10.
