Breakthrough 'extract shooter' ARC Raiders crushes its own Steam player records — toppling even Battlefield 6

ARC Raiders is off to a massive start, peaking at well over 260,000 players on release day. The game would go on to eclipse the 350,000 player mark only days later that weekend. Usually, that's the end of it, but not for ARC Raiders.

Not only did ARC Raiders break that record on Friday, but also on Saturday and Sunday. Hitting an all-new high of 462,488 players on November 9. If you want to know just how absurd that is, I can't think of another PvP game in the last two years (or really ever) that managed to do the same thing over a week later.

The only multiplayer games I can even think of that have accomplished the same feat were titles like PEAK, R.E.P.O., and Schedule I. Those cooperative friend-tester games have become all the rage these days. I'll also give a nod to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the only single-player game to do it as well.

There were some other games I found, but none of which did it over a week after the initial release date. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Palworld were the two that I could find. Needless to say, this doesn't happen that often, if ever, for PvP games.

Battlefield 6 didn't even manage this when it launched its free-to-play battle royale, REDSEC, falling short by 100,000 players. That's not to take anything away from DICE and their success with Battlefield 6, as their play counts have continued to hold above 300,000 since release. But, did you know ARC Raiders based them?

Yeah, that's right, ARC Raiders now has more players than Battlefield 6 does, which seems absolutely insane to me. As I'm writing this piece, ARC Raiders has over 30,000 more players than Battlefield 6, which includes its free-to-play mode!

Success is earned — ARC Raiders is cashing in

ARC Raiders continues to prove its worth with the gaming community as word of mouth spreads across the landscape. Heck, this game has even managed to bring me and multiple other friends, who I haven't spoken to in a decade, together.

One friend messaged me, "Hey, is this Mike?" and moments later, we were at a party together. Over the years, we just hadn't kept up with one another and had changed names to make it all the more confusing. But ARC Raider is so good that it pushed past that social anxiety and got too long-lost friends raiding together.

Since then, I've put over 25 hours into this game with them, not counting the other 20 I've played solo. Going through the heartbreak of losing in doubles, to scavenging a third player whenever we can, we've done just about everything in this game together, and it's been just as fun each and every raid.

There's the thing, ARC Raiders has somehow managed to keep me engaged without any drop-off. I'm not saying games become boring or anything, but we all go through that honeymoon phase where everything feels perfect, only to see the shine wear off over time. That's a normal thing, yet it hasn't happened with ARC Raiders.

Every time I turn the game on, I'm just as excited as I was when it launched almost two weeks ago. There's just something magical about the game that you can read more about in my review that continues to pull at me day after day.

Even when I'm falling asleep, ARC Raiders is on my mind. Tasks I want to complete, or gear I'd like to try out, all of which are running through my head until I finally let the dream bug catch me. The game is just that good.

Where ARC Raiders goes from here is anyone's guess, but with content coming in the months ahead that includes new PvE enemies, quests, and a map to boot, I don't think the game will be in danger of having enough players any time soon.

Even now, while I write, I'm sitting here thinking to myself, "This is just taking time away from ARC Raiders that I could be spending trying to grab my last Bombadier piece." I can't even begin to describe just how great that feeling is.

As someone who's let games build hype only for that hype to fade away with time, it's amazing to finally have a game where that hype sticks with you like it did when you were a kid. Being an adult sucks, and having to do things when all you want to do is play video games sucks, too. Especially when it's ARC Raiders we're talking about!

Heck, Embark Studios moves against cheaters, doesn't hurt things either.

Now is better than ever

For those who haven't tried ARC Raiders yet, now is the best time to jump in. Players on solo adventures will more often than not be friendly to one another as they work to take down ARC or other quests together.

Trio matches are a whole different ball game, where just about every person will fire on sight. I can't blame them, since ratting someone in a 3v3 situation is a whole lot easier than it is to do in a 1v1.

Even with solos, make no mistake, as ARC Raiders is first and foremost a PvP game. Keep your trigger finger ready just in case anyone tries to backstab you. Heck, it might even be me.

Have you tried ARC Raiders yet? If not, why not? Is there something holding you back? Let us know below in the comments or on social media. Maybe I can help alleviate some of your concerns!

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