ARC Raiders Review: The Most Approachable Extraction Shooter, Even Solo

ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter from Embark Studios. From the underground city of Speranza you head up to a surface ruled by lethal ARC machines, grab loot and try to get out before robots or other players get you. The game came out on October 30, 2025 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. We’ll tell you what it does well, where it stumbles and whether it’s for you.

Disclosure: GamersTogether was a paid ARC Raiders ambassador for Czech and Slovak players from launch until 2026. Nexon ended the partnership, and we haven’t worked with Embark since. The score is based purely on player and critic ratings, not on our own impressions.

What ARC Raiders is about

The surface of the Earth is ruled by ARC machines, from drone swarms to giant mechanical behemoths. People live underground in the city of Speranza. There you craft, repair and upgrade gear in your own workshop, take quests from traders, and then head topside for a raid. You play solo or in a squad of up to three. On the surface you scavenge loot, fight machines and have to reach an extraction point. If you don’t get out, you lose what you were carrying.

You’re not alone on the map. Other players can shoot you and take your loot, or work with you instead. The noise of combat draws in more machines and players. Map conditions change, so no two raids are the same. How to get started is covered in our beginner’s guide.

What has changed since launch

The game launched with four maps, and Embark has been updating it regularly ever since. The biggest update so far, Frozen Trail from October 8, 2026, added the snowy Pendola Pass map, the Frigate airborne carrier, three new enemies, new weapons, a revamped skill tree and your own Outpost base. From October 13 to 20, 2026 Embark tested a PvE toggle in which players couldn’t hurt each other, and it is sending out a player survey from October 22. Regular Expeditions work as an optional character reset in exchange for rewards. We cover the news in our Frozen Trail overview and our PvE test article.

What critics praise and what bothers players

On Metacritic the PC version has 86 from 65 reviews, PS5 85 and Xbox Series X 88. PC Gamer (86) calls it finally a less stressful extraction shooter and praises the weapons, beautiful maps and unpredictable encounters with players and machines. GamesRadar+ writes that it sands down the roughest edges of the genre and is approachable while still being palpably tense. Both outlets, along with Pocket Tactics, highlight the sound design. IGN praises the progression that moves your character forward even in a raid where you lose everything, and appreciates how friendly many players are, especially among solos.

The complaints are smaller, but they come up repeatedly. IGN and GamesRadar+ both write that skill unlocks aren’t very interesting and you wait a long time for an ability worth having. IGN also criticizes the weak story and the vendor voices, which it says are largely AI-generated. GamesRadar+ finds the cosmetics store a little pricey, and Hardcore Gamer notes that the start can feel overwhelming without much direction and that the UI seems made for mouse and keyboard. A long-running problem is cheaters: in September 2026 Embark acknowledged the fight and said it uses kernel-level protection from Denuvo alongside machine-learning detection. Players on Steam give the game 81.7% positive out of 429,005 reviews, rated Very Positive. Users on Metacritic are stricter, with 7.3.

Price and platforms

On Steam ARC Raiders costs €39.99 or $39.99, and the Deluxe Edition with cosmetic items and 2,400 Raider Tokens €59.99 (regular prices as of October 21, 2026). The game is on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with crossplay. You need a permanent internet connection. On PC a GTX 1050 Ti or RX 580 and 12 GB of RAM are enough; an RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT and 16 GB of RAM are recommended.

Full voice acting is available in English and Turkish, and the interface and subtitles cover 13 languages in total, including German, French, Spanish and Polish. More in our languages article.

Who ARC Raiders is for (and who it isn’t)

It’s for you if extraction shooters appeal to you but merciless Tarkov put you off. ARC Raiders is more approachable, solo players mostly face other solos, and progression doesn’t punish death as harshly as elsewhere. With a squad of friends, raids turn into stories you won’t forget.

Skip it if you can’t stand losing your gear when you fail to extract. If you only want PvE, wait to see what Embark does with the test results. And expect cheaters to still show up.

Verdict: Is ARC Raiders worth it?

Yes, if you enjoy the tension of being able to lose everything. ARC Raiders is the most approachable extraction shooter released so far. We’re giving it 8/10.

Critics agree that Embark didn’t reinvent the genre, but nailed its fundamentals: sound, fights against machines and encounters with players that turn into stories. At €39.99 it’s a fair price. Points come off for cheaters, dull skill unlocks and a weak story.

Playing ARC Raiders? All our guides and news are on the ARC Raiders hub. Start with our beginner’s guide, and see what Frozen Trail brought in our update overview. You can find a squad on the GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

This review is based on player ratings on Steam and critic scores on Metacritic, on reviews from IGN, PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, Hardcore Gamer and Pocket Tactics, and on official announcements from Embark Studios. Information verified on October 21, 2026. All our guides to the game are on the ARC Raiders hub.