Embark Studios has finally confirmed the much-anticipated title Arc Raiders, and it's scheduled for release on October 30. The game will be playable on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Looking forward to a thrilling fall, especially as Bungie's Marathon is set to launch on September 23.
Many were hoping for a surprise launch during the Summer Game Fest, similar to how Embark surprised everyone last year with The Finals. While that did not happen, it was definitely an exciting time for the announced date of release. It looks like the team at Embark wanted to polish things up in this window of time before the big day.
The recent tech test for Arc Raiders had everyone talking – in a good way. It seems the test went extremely successfully, with the developers being able to receive a ton of valuable feedback. "The test was no less than a fantastic dress rehearsal," Aleksander Grøndal, executive producer, pointed out. He acknowledged the passion players showed and confirmed the team is now zeroed in on the final development stretch.
So what is occupying them. For Grøndal, the to-do list comprises:
- Stopping those pesky bugs.
- Polishing and enhancing the game as a whole.
- Fine-tuning gameplay balance and how player economies work.
- Creating an even better introduction for potential new players to extraction shooters.
He teased that the release version would be "even bigger" yet, with more areas to explore, new adventures to undertake, and more goals for players to chase.
If you participated in the tech test, you'd probably agree that Arc Raiders was already surprisingly complete. Many players found it actually more engaging than what has been shown about Marathon so far. It had given a good chunk of content over the week-long test, which had multiple maps to explore, quests to complete, crafting stations to unlock and a permanent skill tree to invest in. A pretty strong positive impression.
So the 30th of October is set in stone, but Embark still isn't letting on about the price. A couple of things are known, though: Arc Raiders will not be free-to-play, plus it is not going to be a luxury $70 or $80 affair. A lot of people hope it will be somewhere around the $30 to $40 range given the good reception and quality on display in the tech test, just like most successful titles such as Helldivers 2. That kind of pricing would likely be a sweet spot for a lot of gamers eager to jump in.
So mark your calendars. The extraction shooter scene is about to get really exciting this fall.
