Fragmentary Order is the upcoming hardcore sci-fi extraction shooter led by Escape from Tarkov's creator, Nikita Buyanov—he's still working on Tarkov at Battlestate Games, though. But the extraction shooter has changed (in large part due to Arc Raiders) since Tarkov's eight-year beta period beginning in 2016, and even its full 1.0 release at the end of 2025. There's more of an appetite for the genre now than ever, at least for a more casual spin on it. Sure, you'll still lose loot when you die, but most matches in Arc Raiders devolve into making friends with other players.
Buyanov says no to all that. When asked by GamesBeat whether the emergent gameplay of Arc Raiders has given the team any inspiration, Buyanov plainly stated: "It’s an extraction shooter for casual people. It’s not an option for us. We want to have the most painful, most challenging, and most rewarding experience."
In other words, if it's taking inspiration from anywhere, it's Buyanov's experience with Tarkov. You could argue there's even a hint of Marathon's all-or-nothing approach, which balances huge challenges with satisfying rewards—look no further than the intense Cryo Archive map.
However, he's not ruling out the occasional friendliness. "You can try. That’s your call. But we’re trying to simulate reality. Tarkov is the same," he explains. "You’ll have a lot to do, and not just fighting people. You’ll need to survive dynamic events in the location. You might need to work with others to find shelter. We won’t force people to fight. But people will fight."
Evidently, Fragmentary Order won't be a walk in the park, saying hello to everyone you meet like Arc Raiders—and that's not a dig, I'd argue it's the best part of Embark's extraction shooter. All I hope is that it takes a page out of the Arc Raiders and Marathon playbook and streamlines core systems like inventory management and looting to keep the focus on the most interesting aspects: shooting things and creeping around a detailed map.
