Arc Raiders' Game Director on match-making, fixes and expedition changes | Debrief

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Year2026

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Four months after launching, Arc Raiders continues to hold a vibrant community, with over six million players a week logging in. This success even caught the game's developers, Embark Studios, off-guard. Ahead of the Shrouded Sky update, we chatted to game director Virgil Watkins as well as sound designer Bence Pajor about @ARCRaidersGame success, how Embark digests feedback, and what the future holds for Arc Raiders and its expeditions. 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - Aggression-based match-making explained 05:07 - Expedition changes 07:37 - Challenges of maintaining a live-service game 09:18 - Why Arc Raiders thrived (where Concord & Highguard didn't) 11:31 - Matriarchs and concerns over drop rate 12:47 - New additions 13:56 - Is machine learning used to make Arc smarter? 14:55 - Inspiration behind the Arc 15:45 - Bence Pajor on crafting the sound of Arc Raiders 20:05 - Outro #arcraiders #gamedev #interview #updatenews #pcgamer #pcgaming https://www.pcgamer.com X: https://x.com/pcgamer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pcgamer_mag Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcgamer_mag/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pcgamermagazine/ Forum: https://forums.pcgamer.com/ To subscribe to the magazine in the US, UK, or elsewhere, visit magazines direct. PC Gamer is the global authority on PC games. For over 30 years, we’ve been at the forefront of covering PC gaming with worldwide print editions, around-the-clock news, features, esports coverage, hardware testing, and game reviews, as well as our popular PC Gaming Shows.