According to Forbes, ARC Raiders is maintaining absolutely massive player counts a full week after launch, still topping 300,000 concurrent players every night even on weeknights. The game had 170,000 players actively playing at 8 AM ET during writing, demonstrating incredible staying power. Meanwhile, the critical reception has been stellar with an 87 Metascore that actually makes it the second-highest rated pure multiplayer shooter ever, trailing only Overwatch’s 91 from 2016. Over on OpenCritic, it’s even more impressive with a 93 score that makes it the best-reviewed multiplayer-only shooter on that platform. The developers are already rolling out new content with patch notes detailing additions coming this weekend as part of their strategy to constantly refresh the experience between major updates.
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The player retention story is wild
Here’s the thing about live service games – the launch spike is one thing, but maintaining those numbers is where most titles completely fall apart. We’ve seen it happen over and over. But ARC Raiders? It’s basically defying gravity right now. 300,000 concurrent players on a Tuesday night? That’s not just good – that’s “established franchise” territory. And we’re talking about a brand new IP from a relatively unknown studio. When you compare this to something like Marvel Rivals, which also had huge launch numbers, the context matters. Marvel has, you know, the entire Marvel universe behind it and NetEase’s massive development resources. ARC Raiders is doing this on its own merits.
The critical reception is historic
An 87 Metascore for a pure multiplayer shooter is basically unheard of. I had to double-check this because it puts ARC Raiders in truly elite company. The only game that scored higher was Overwatch at launch, and we all remember how that dominated the landscape for years. But here’s what’s interesting – on OpenCritic, it’s actually sitting at 93, which is just insane. Critics are clearly responding to something special here. There’s already talk about whether this deserves Game of the Year consideration, which would be significant because awards shows traditionally favor single-player narrative experiences over multiplayer games.
So what comes next?
The developers aren’t resting on their laurels. They’ve already put out patch notes detailing new additions coming this weekend, which shows they’re committed to the live service model. But the real test will be how they handle the content pipeline. Can they keep players engaged month after month? The Steam charts look fantastic now, but maintaining this momentum requires constant innovation and community engagement. Still, for a game that basically came out of nowhere, this is one of the biggest success stories of the year. It feels like one of those moments where a new franchise is being born right before our eyes.
What this means for the industry
We’re seeing a pattern emerging where smaller studios can create massive hits without the backing of established IP or massive corporate resources. Expedition 33 did it earlier this year, and now ARC Raiders is repeating the pattern. It suggests that there’s still room for innovation and breakout success in the crowded multiplayer space. The gaming landscape might be dominated by sequels and established franchises, but when a fresh concept executed well hits the market, players are clearly hungry for it. This should give hope to every indie developer out there trying to make their mark.
