While Arc Raiders has had a very positive reception from players so far, the pricey cosmetics are turning some heads due to the game's premium nature.
While Embark Studios' The Finals has torn it up as a free-to-play release, the studio's latest game, Arc Raiders, is a full-priced release with a $40 standard edition and a $60 deluxe edition available to players. However, despite being a premium title, it still has some of the biggest trappings of free-to-play releases, namely a deluge of cosmetics and a timed battle pass system that disappears forever once the timeframe is over. These have caused some players to voice their displeasure.
Looking at the Arc Raiders subreddit, there are many posts of players commenting on the skin pricing in Arc Raiders. After paying $40 for the game, there are skin bundles in the store that cost 2,400 Raider Tokens, which are currently available in a bundle costing $20. One user dubbed it a "Premium title with f2p prices," adding that they were "ready to pay them a lot of money for reasonable skin prices. But having bundles this expensive in a premium game is an instant pass."
Of course, Arc Raiders isn't the only premium game with paid cosmetics and a Battle Pass. The game is drawing comparisons to Helldivers 2, which allows players to earn premium currency while playing and features battle passes that remain available indefinitely, unlike those in Arc Raiders, which disappear after a specific time period. One user said, "Helldivers 2 should be the gold-standard for paid-game content," with another saying it's "the benchmark for how season passes should be handled."
Granted, these prices aren't having a massive effect on the game, as it still holds a "Very Positive" rating on Steam. Unless players start outright rejecting this pricing, it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
Arc Raiders servers crash after hitting a peak of 337,000 concurrent players on Steam, and matchmaking may still take "longer than usual" while devs fix the extraction shooter.
