Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios tries to embrace creative independence as long as the team and project can collectively stay on track, often receiving and integrating solutions or ideas crafted by individual developers who had a point to make. Arc Raiders production director Caio Braga discusses this approach at GDC in a panel and in an interview with GamesRadar+, and it turns out we can thank some individual folks at Embark for some key chunks of the hit extraction shooter.
In his panel, Braga discusses Arc Raiders' long and messy development, which endured multiple reboots and pivots across seven years. Guns were among the many things in flux, though core design pillars of immersion and accessibility made some weapon qualities seem immovable. At one point, the way guns are reloaded became a point of contention, and a single "guerrilla" designer came up with his own solution.
