Two Raiders working together in an ARC Raiders trailer released ahead of the game’s launch. (Image credit: Embark Studios)
One of the biggest new games that’s come out this fall is ARC Raiders, the PvPvE extraction shooter from The Finals developer Embark Studios. The title quickly took off following its launch on October 30, and has remained incredibly popular throughout November across its Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 platforms.
Given all the hype for ARC Raiders that had been building over time due to various beta tests and new trailers, I wasn’t very surprised to see its strong performance — especially with the rising popularity of extraction shooters as a genre. Admittedly, though, I have been taken aback some by a new statistics report that shows the true heights the game has reached on PC.
That report comes from Rhys Elliot, head of market analysis at the market research company Alinea Analytics. Elliot shared it on Monday morning, explaining that based on the firm’s estimates, ARC Raiders has now sold a whopping 4 million copies on Steam alone just under a month after launch, and has accrued roughly $130 million in sales on the platform.
Elliot went on to add that ARC Raiders has now held the top spot on Steam’s Top Sellers list for a full month now, and sure enough, it’s there — surpassing even the likes of Electronic Arts’ (EA) extremely hot new FPS Battlefield 6 at the moment, as well as other big titles like Dispatch and Risk of Rain 2’s new Alloyed Collective DLC.
In addition to that, it’s also estimated that ARC Raiders is rapidly closing in on 7 million total sales across Xbox, PC, and PS5, which is a very impressive feat for a new multiplayer game from an independent, relatively unknown studio.
All in all, ARC Raiders hasn’t quite achieved the same blockbuster performance as Battlefield 6 has — that game sold 7 million copies in three days — but it’s still doing incredibly well, and Embark Studios is undoubtedly very pleased with how it’s sold thus far.
It’s worth noting that ARC Raiders isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, either, with its average concurrent player count of 350-450K on Steam (according to SteamDB data) holding steady throughout all of November so far. That it’s kept ahead of Battlefield 6 on the Top Sellers chart even while EA’s shooter is on sale for Black Friday speaks to how much attention it’s garnered, and how much it continues to.
That success can largely be attributed to ARC Raiders’ excellent balance of high-stakes gameplay with systems that are less punishing than other extraction shooters, making it more approachable without making it less exciting.
Its robot ARC PvE mobs are also very engaging to fight, the retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic art direction is creative, it’s very polished on a technical level, and the dynamic nature of its PvPvE encounters means you never know what to expect from each expedition to the surface. That dynamism makes for a great viewing experience while watching streamers, too.
Want to play yourself, but don’t have the game yet? ARC Raiders is $39.99 across Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5, though the PC version is notably on sale for $34.99 at Loaded. The $59.99 Deluxe Edition is discounted, too; the PC edition is $50.19 at Loaded, with the Xbox one going for $56.79 at Loaded.
