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GamesRadar
GamesRadar
Technology
Andrew Brown

"It's a slippery slope to try and build a game for an audience": Marathon, Arc Raiders, and Last Flag devs dig into the trend-bucking evolution of multiplayer shooters

Marathon ARC Raiders Virgil Watkins Bungie Dan Reynolds Joe Ziegler Embark Studios Mac
Arc Raiders player holding a gun in red light.

Multiplayer shooters evolve slowly but surely. The sweaty arena shooters of yesteryear paved the way for big-budget franchises to thrive, and while they reigned supreme, hero shooters and once-niche battle royale games birthed today's live service formula. Now another door is opening, with Arc Raiders and Marathon successfully taking the hardcore stylings and RPG-esque progression from extraction shooter Escape From Tarkov to far broader audiences.

It's a very exciting time to enjoy multiplayer shooters, but why is so much changing? I caught up with three studios across the industry – Bungie (Marathon), Embark Studios (Arc Raiders), and Night Street Games (Last Flag) – to learn more about their priorities, creative interests, and thoughts on working within one of the industry's riskiest genres.

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