ARC Raiders dominates Twitch and Steam as devs add final “polish” before launch

If ‘game grief’ is a real thing, then I’m feeling it over ARC Raiders. It’s rare that a playtest has me longing for my next fix of action, but Embark Studios has plenty of players pining in the same way. A new financial report from Nexon reveals fresh details about the shooter’s public reception. Spoilers: it’s looking good, folks.

Following ARC Raiders’ Tech Test, the attention is now on whether Embark Studios will announce the next ARC Raiders playtest. While this remains unanswered, Nexon clarifies that the impressive Steam Deck game has shattered every internal goal set ahead of the Tech Test. Exceeding 20 million overall views on YouTube and a top six spot on Twitch, Nexon adds that ARC Raiders is currently well past the publisher’s Steam Wishlist expectations by at least 50%.

Currently, ARC Raiders is sitting comfortably on the Top Wishlists chart at rank 12, alongside strong competition in the form of Morefun Studios’ gritty FPS game Arena Breakout: Infinite, Funcom’s Dune Awakening, and Gearbox’s Borderlands 4. It’s even near FromSoftware’s latest addition to the Soulslike game space, Elden Ring: Nightreign.

The next hurdle for ARC Raiders to overcome is a launch date. On this, Nexon says that “the [Embark Studios] team is now working to integrate player feedback and polish the game ahead of a launch.”

Nexon also expresses that “the game performed well, particularly in Western markets, and the early retention rate showed a 25-point improvement over the previous test conducted in Q4 last year.” Embark’s latest playtest is the biggest one yet for ARC Raiders, with players across consoles and PC banding together, or betraying each other, in battle.

I spent the majority of my time with the game on ROG Ally, and its initial performance is extremely promising. You can find a comprehensive breakdown of why it has every chance of success in my ARC Raiders preview. Elsewhere, Embark Studios’ multiplayer hit The Finals is also fairing well after the Season 6 update. Beyond new seasonal content, Nexon’s plans include “pre-registration in China,” with a playtest to follow later this year.

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