While Marathon’s attempt at permanent PvE hasn’t translated to higher player numbers, ARC Raiders saw a strong response during its limited test (further aided by a free weekend). As Embark Studios ruminates on its implementation, CEO Patrick Söderlund admitted that it wouldn’t be a “difficult thing to do.”
“We could just frankly add PvE. It’s not a difficult thing to do. But we didn’t want to obstruct or fiddle too much with the core loop of the game where the PvP aspect of a PvPvE game does add, we believe, adequate tension,” he revealed to The Game Business in a recent talk.
“When you’re building a game, what you’re trying to do is to evoke emotion in players. If you can evoke emotions in people, you’re probably doing something right. It could be joy, it could be fear, whatever your aspirations are. A game that does all of those things will probably do relatively well. ARC Raiders does touch a lot of those different types of emotions, and by removing one substantial component, you’re fiddling with the core emotional loop, which we believed was not the right thing to do.”
It’s hard to argue with Söderlund’s stance on the impact of removing PvP. One facet of ARC Raiders that received significant praise is the uneasy tension when encountering others. Sometimes, they might be nice enough and leave you alone, and sometimes, they would shoot you in the back. That excitement, combined with Free Kits so players didn’t have to lose much, ultimately brought in more casual players.
Of course, the demand for PvE has increased to the point where Embark can no longer ignore it. “We’ve now since tried it and realised that it’s fine. Maybe people can choose what they like. But that was our fear all along. People may have been wondering, ‘why the hell aren’t they just doing what some players were looking for?’ We were looking at the holistic picture, which we have to do. And to protect the creative integrity of what we have created.”
The last PvE test was notable because it essentially lowered loot quantity, offsetting the reduced risk. How the development team balances it in the future remains to be seen, but for now, Steam numbers are better than they were months before the Frozen Trail update, recently peaking at nearly 73,000 concurrent players. Head here for everything added, from the new map to weapons, gear, and even decorating your outpost.
