EXCLUSIVE: Embark Studios tells ScreenRant several new giant ARC enemies are currently in development, including unfamiliar machine designs.
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Embark Studios recently elaborated on ARC Raiders’ long-term future during ScreenRant’s interview tied to the launch of the Riven Tides update, including discussing plans for larger map expansions, evolving progression systems and how expeditions work, teased the roadmap leading through early 2027. The developer also confirmed another major focus for the extraction shooter’s future: entirely new large-scale ARC enemy types.
In my interview with ARC Raiders Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal for ScreenRant, he revealed that Embark is actively developing several new “very large ARCs” for future updates, including some with completely new designs.
I can’t go into too much detail here yet, but there are several new very large ARCs currently in development. Both with familiar shapes, and completely new. We don’t want to make it too formulaic, so we’re always challenging ourselves to think differently about these very large ARCs.
This tease comes after ARC Raiders spent the last few months adding increasingly dangerous enemy types to the game. Riven Tides introduced the heavily armored Turbine tied to the game’s newest map, while earlier updates added the laser-equipped Vaporizer (the absolute worst) alongside destructive and annoying enemies such as the Comet and Firefly before it. All of these can quickly send a Raider back to Speranza if they’re caught in the open.
New ARC Raiders Enemies and Bosses May Be Very Different
Grøndal’s comments about avoiding formulaic design are especially notable because extraction shooters too easily fall into repetitive boss battles, or tedious gameplay loops, including ARC Raiders itself.
The word choice of “familiar shapes” alongside “completely new” ARCs reveals that some future enemies will evolve from existing categories while others will introduce entirely different silhouettes, movement patterns, or combat behaviors. The example I gave in our interview is the massive walking ARC machines (called The Emperor by players) seen in the background of some maps. An even bigger arachnid-style enemy, larger than the Queen and Matriarch, could open up interesting gameplay opportunities if there were more stages involved or larger team sizes.
Given ARC Raiders’ heavy emphasis on environmental storytelling and dynamic world events, larger ARCs could also become a part of quests or map-specific activities or evolving seasonal conditions, etc.
The tease about all-new (and massive) enemy types isn’t unexpected, and it’s one of many examples from our longer interview with Embark where they were open to discuss gameplay changes, new content ideas, and systems it wants to improve as they absorb and react to player feedback.
Since I conducted the interview, the game’s update schedule changed, weapon degradation values have been slightly reversed, and now there’s an all-new vendor to help give PvE players (and hoarders in general) ways to expand their inventory, bank for future expeditions, and acquire new blueprints and progression items, etc. which have garnered positive player feedback.
Grøndal tells me that the studio’s priority is making new content feel distinct to ARC Raiders instead of reacting to trends in the extraction shooter genre.
“We want to create engaging new content that feels fresh, unique and distinctly ARC Raiders. Our focus is to make ARC Raiders the best game it can be, and while we look at the competition, we want to make sure that we keep improving upon what’s good and fixing what isn’t. Player feedback is very much part of our decisions here. Rather than chasing competitors we’re committed to making ARC Raiders great and we’re excited about its future.”
With Embark quickly expanding its enemy roster through additions like the Turbine, Vaporizer, Comet, and Firefly, Grøndal’s comments about new massive ARCs hint at the most obvious examples of how Embark plans to keep the game evolving alongside new maps that we revealed will explore past the Rust Belt.