PvPvE shooters, especially ones where the game loop circles an extractive “get in, find good loot, get out” vibe, haven’t saturated gaming culture in the same way battle royales and hero shooters have. But for developer Embark, who are currently at work on the upcoming PvPvE shooter Arc Raiders, adding in other players as potential opposition to their extraction shooter was key to avoiding boredom.
In an interview with Edge Magazine (h/t PCGamesN), developer Embark (The Finals) revealed that even though there was some joy to be had in early builds of Arc Raiders when it was just a PvE game, the team eventually had to admit to itself that the “game [was] not fun.” But once the team added in other players, things turned around.
Friend-or-foe showdowns makes for some great tension
There’s a moment in one of the more recent Arc Raiders trailers that I think demonstrates what Embark was probably keying into with the inclusion of other players. Right around the 2:53 mark, there’s a sequence in which the player encounters another player who’s potentially a threat. They attempt a negotiation before one of the players is gunned down by yet another player hiding on the map.
It’s a little scripted, naturally, but I think it conveys the idea well. If you played The Division’s Dark Zone or Call of Duty’s DMZ, you’re likely familiar with this type of situation. It makes for a degree of unpredictability and an injection of tense social dynamics that can really help liven up a game in which you’re mostly just mowing down bots and moving from place to place to find good stuff. It’s also pretty rare to see the same situation repeat itself, so each match has more of a chance to feel fresh than if you were just targeting enemies relying on the same predictable AI behaviors.
As PCGamesN states, a technical test of Arc Raiders’ PvPvE experience earlier this year was well received, and the game is currently the fifth-most-wishlisted on Steam. Maybe (fingers crossed!) Arc Raiders will finally crack the code and prove why PvPvE extraction shooters can be so much fun.