ARC Raiders’ secret countdown may lead to launch date reveal at Summer Game Fest

There’s one thing that ARC Raiders fans like me are desperately pining for right now, and that’s a definitive launch date. Embark Studios’ forthcoming extraction shooter stormed out of the gate with an excellent Tech Test last month, leaving players eager for more trips into the Rust Belt. The wait for ARC Raiders may get easier during Summer Game Fest, if a hidden in-game countdown delivers the goods.

In a recent social media post from ARC Raiders reporter ‘ARCRaidersnews’, the Embark Studios enthusiast highlights a Steam update for the shooter, which refreshes the game’s launcher. When interacted with, savvy players can decode a collection of Base64 strings that lead a countdown set to conclude on Friday, June 6, 2025. In true Embark fashion, The Finals’ developer is toying with players with additional cyphers to solve.

Other messages reveal phrases such as, “I’m not telling you a release date” or “coming soon”, alongside links to the game’s Steam page, YouTube channel, and official website. These playful teases, originally discovered by raider ‘kzrts’, aren’t the first time Embark has spurred the community to go on an easter egg hunt.

Secrets lurking with The Finals saw players investigating the deepest depths of the underrated FPS game, leading to neat cosmetic rewards in return for their efforts. After all, that 8-bit dolphin charm is pretty sick.

There are two possible outcomes for this countdown. One is the shadow drop of ARC Raiders, which would echo Embark’s release of The Finals at The Game Awards in 2023. The other, and more plausible, is a release date with the confirmation of the next ARC Raiders playtest. ARC Raiders originally started as a looter shooter and was set to be Embark Studios’ debut title.

However, development for the robot-infused action game continued, transitioning the game’s direction into the PVEVP thrills it hooked players in with during the Tech Test. My ARC Raiders preview is proof of it.

Bungie’s genre rival, Marathon, is seemingly leaving its release plans up in the air for 2025. Despite marking it down for launch on September 23, 2025, the game’s lukewarm alpha reception and plagiarism complications could potentially leave a vital gap for ARC Raiders to fill.

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