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Arc Raiders is finally just a couple of days away from its release following multiple delays over the last few years – and yes, Embark Studios is very aware of the fact that its shooter is arriving between two of the genre's biggest.
CEO Patrick Söderlund admits as much during a recent interview with The Game Business, saying he knows it's "insanity" for Arc Raiders to launch amid the likes of Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. "I know. The insanity," jokes the lead. "People may look at that and say, 'What the hell are they doing?'" Embark Studios has "spent a lot of time looking at this from multiple angles," though, and "we believe that the game can launch there."
Söderlund, who himself served as CEO and vice president of DICE – the very same DICE leading the Battlefield series' development at EA – has actually been playing Battlefield 6 in anticipation of his own game and notes that Arc Raiders' release is just the beginning. "This is the start of a long journey. It needs to start somewhere." That's certainly true, and it helps that Arc Raiders is already doing well, standing as the third most-wishlisted Steam game.
What's the plan, though, to keep eyes on Arc Raiders? "I think it comes down to not being complacent enough to believe that we can build something without making a meaningful impact or innovation," explains Söderlund. "We have to bring something so that people pay attention. And if we've done a good enough job, maybe they'll stick around. But in order for them to break away from what they're already playing, there needs to be an attraction."
He wasn't always so sure about the upcoming shooter's success, however. "A couple of years ago, I was concerned about Arc Raiders and whether it would find its market. So, when we launched the technical test, which was earlier in the spring, we were just blown away by how many people played it. We obviously tried our best to market it, but it became one of those things that just spread virally. We were humbled by that."
The studio head concludes, "It's a testament to the work that the team has done building something that is complicated, yet accessible. Something that is easy to play, yet has a lot of gameplay depth."
It'll be interesting to see how the game lands once it releases, especially in the midst of genre giants Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 – I know I'll personally be keeping my attention on Arc Raiders come October 30.
