No one at Embark could describe Arc Raiders before its extraction shooter pivot, leading to 'playtest battles' of competing directions for the game

Arc Raiders: A raider standing with a gun in their right hand, looking upwards at something out of shot, surrounded by red smoke.

Embark has not shied away from discussing its original plans for Arc Raiders, which were drastically different from what ultimately emerged. It was supposed to be a more PvE-focused game before it became the extraction shooter hit it is today.

We stopped forcing the game [or games] we wanted, and we looked at the game we had.

Caio Braga