Arc Raiders’ old machine designs sound so diabolical, it’s no wonder they were reworked or removed after poor playtest feedback: ‘At that time, they didn’t fit with the game very well’ is currently attracting attention in the technology world.
Experts believe this development may influence how digital platforms evolve
over the coming years.
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I don’t think anyone had it on their bingo cards that Arc Raiders’ machine design and AI would be so good that people would fervently demand a PvE mode in an extraction shooter. If you did, then good for you, I guess. But it wasn’t always that way, not least because the team was flip-flopping between genres practically every day: One moment the Arc would be Souls-inspired difficulty, and then the next, the players would be the powerhouse.
After Arc Raiders’ production director, Caio Braga, mentioned in his GDC talk that their in-house data team were behind several key overhauls, like PvP, we asked him for a history lesson on the Arc machines in a post-talk interview.
Braga recalled a moment during testing where the Arc machines overall received negative feedback, and the team’s initial reaction was that it was simply an issue with content, that there wasn’t enough variety and they needed to make more. The data team realised that, no, players loved the Arc as a concept, just not all of the individual types.
Braga explained that this largely came down to players’ understanding of how to fight them, and some admittedly unfair balancing. So, which Arc were the least favourite during advancement?
“Of course, making new enemies is much more fun than fixing the ones you have that aren’t performing,” Braga said, but it was nonetheless a necessary step, reinforced by more nuanced conclusions from the playtest data. So, fix a handful of the Arc they did, and the player sentiment flipped positive.
Naturally, we asked Braga if feedback on any of the current Arcs indicates that they require similar tweaking, to which he replied, “Not really.” That’s more or less because learning this lesson during advancement paved the way forward. Of course, minor changes to existing Arcs do happen—it wasn’t long ago that the dreaded Rocketeer was ‘fixed’ to make it more aggressive, if that’s even possible.
“We’re always evolving their tech innovation and behaviour trees. We wanted to go quite deep on the tech, and we’ve had a few breakthroughs there.”
As for Arcs that were cut during production, these are largely the big machines built for the original vision of the game, where you were competing to kill the boss first: “They had bigger puzzles”. There were also “suicidal bots” similar, I assume, to Pops, that were removed because they weren’t fun.
“There’s still interesting gameplay to have with them, but at that time, they didn’t fit with the game very well. Every now and then, when we need to do a new Arc, we look at our catalogue to see if there’s any capabilities or art that could be brought back,” Braga explained, using the example of the Firefly which was reworked from its original, removed version and added in the Shrouded Sky update.
Arc Raiders roadmap: New and improvedArc Raiders best skills: Survive the surfaceArc Raiders best weapons: Just don’t lose themArc Raiders Expeditions: Retire your RaiderArc Raiders quests: All the missions and how to beat ’emArc Raiders Weather Monitor Project: Beat the windArc Raiders Trophy Display Project: Big game hunter
Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end.
Why This Matters
This development highlights the rapid pace of innovation in the technology sector.
Companies are constantly pushing boundaries in order to stay competitive.
Analysts suggest that such changes could influence future product design,
user expectations, and industry standards.
Looking Ahead
As technology continues to evolve, developments like this may shape the next
generation of digital services and consumer experiences.
Industry watchers will continue to monitor how this story develops and what
impact it may have on the broader technology landscape.