ARC Raiders, developed by Embark Studios under Nexon, has achieved remarkable milestones: a peak of 480,000 concurrent users, global sales surpassing 4 million copies, and a nomination for Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards.

Unofficial estimates are even higher. According to Alinea Analytics, the game may have already sold roughly 7 million copies.

In today’s industry—where sequels, remasters, and remakes dominate—ARC Raiders stands out as a rare new IP success story. It also helped push the extraction-shooter genre into a more accessible, casual direction, a major shift for a genre once considered niche and hardcore.

Now, the goal for every upcoming extraction shooter is simple: become the next ARC Raiders. So why did ARC Raiders succeed, and what must future games prepare if they want to match it?

1. Realism First: No Health Bars, No Damage Numbers

ARC Raiders made deliberate choices to make combat feel as realistic as possible.

From the chilling hum of the Arc to the natural environmental audio, the team focused heavily on immersion. Their development diary, The Evolution of ARC Raiders, shows how much research went into gunfire interactions, atmosphere, and sound design.

One of the boldest decisions: removing enemy health bars and damage numbers. Most shooters display both, but these UI elements break immersion for players seeking tension and uncertainty. By removing them, ARC Raiders earned praise for unpredictable encounters and heightened realism.

2. Building a Memorable Ecosystem

Beyond its grounded gunplay, ARC Raiders created an ecosystem players want to revisit again and again.

Its “cassette-futurist” visuals, dense environmental details, and layered soundscape all contribute to a world that feels alive. The creature hierarchy—from small units like Pops and Ticks to Reapers, Bastions, Queens, and Mithria—forms a believable food chain that shapes how the world behaves.

This kind of ecosystem is essential for extraction shooters. Escape from Tarkov, despite its current negative reception, still holds players’ attention because of its deep, immersive world.

Gunplay alone isn’t enough. Exploration and escape must be just as compelling, and ARC Raiders succeeds by giving players a world that feels worth surviving in.

3. Lower the Skill Ceiling Without Lowering the Depth

Historically, extraction shooters were known for brutal learning curves and punishing difficulty. ARC Raiders challenged that perception.

It introduced features that made the genre more accessible without removing its core appeal:

• In-game map support

• Recovery through a free loadout

• Ability to attempt extraction before fully dying

• Built-in nonverbal communication tools

Individually, these additions may seem minor. But for a genre that traditionally offered none of them, they dramatically lowered the barrier to entry and helped keep newcomers around.

4. Create Shareable “Kick” Moments

Every successful modern game needs a strong hook — a moment or mechanic that’s instantly shareable, easily clipped, and naturally viral. ARC Raiders delivered exactly that through cinematic gameplay moments that emerge organically.

Gunfights that look straight out of a movie, dramatic drops from tall structures, and the uncanny movements of Arc units all encourage players to think, “I want to try that.” These moments generate sustained engagement on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and streaming platforms, fueling voluntary word of mouth.

In today’s market, players often buy games not because of marketing but because they see their peers enjoying them. ARC Raiders excels because it regularly produces memorable, sharable moments that make players evangelize the game themselves.

5. Treat Users With Integrity — They Are Your Best Ambassadors

If you want a game to succeed, consistency and integrity matter. Players act as unofficial ambassadors. Treat them well, and they bring in others. Treat them poorly, and they drive others away.

ARC Raiders and Escape from Tarkov offer a clear contrast.

ARC Raiders responded quickly to early issues, actively restored items lost to cheaters, and communicated clearly. As a result, it saw a steady climb in concurrent users, eventually hitting 480,000 on Steam.

Tarkov, meanwhile, suffered from inconsistent communication and poor issue handling. Despite being foundational to the genre, it peaked at only around 50,000 concurrent Steam users in the same period.

If future extraction shooters want to succeed, transparent communication, frequent updates, and shared long-term vision are mandatory. Players must feel respected and informed.

Conclusion

ARC Raiders didn’t succeed by accident. Its realism, ecosystem design, accessibility improvements, viral hooks, and honest communication formed a blueprint for modern extraction shooters.

The genre is evolving. Latecomers who want to earn players’ trust — and their staying power — must study what ARC Raiders did and approach development with the same clarity, boldness, and sincerity.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.