Arc Raiders ditches free-to-play plan, now it's a premium release next year

Embark Studios' upcoming co-op shooter Arc Raiders is ditching its free-to-play plan, and the game will now be available as a premium release in 2025. Announced in 2021, the game is being developed by the same studio that made The Finals. While the game was supposedly set to be the first game by Embark Studios, The Finals came into the picture, and the release for Arc Raiders got delayed.

Furthermore, the game's overall intention has also changed. After being silent for a long period, the developers have finally introduced Arc Raiders at Gamescom 2024, and now it is being announced that the co-op shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world will be a $40 game.

Read on to learn more about why the developing studio has made Arc Raiders a paid game while it was supposed to be free-to-play.

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Embark Studios revealed why they changed Arc Raiders from a free-to-play game to a paid experience

Arc Raiders will be the second game developed by Embark Studios. However, the entire developing studio is in the process of being acquired by Nexon, the same studio that made The First Descendant. While the game was an immediate hit, the free-to-play looter shooter received massive criticism due to its microtransactions.

In a press briefing last week, Embark Studios' Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal stated the reason behind this recent change in Arc Raiders.

"You may remember that we first intended for Arc Raiders to be a free-to-play game. After careful assessment, we decided the premium business model is a great fit for the experience that we're building."

He further adds that this shift will allow developers to focus more on the players' engagement instead of encouraging them to make in-game purchases.

In most free-to-play games these days, there is a large amount of content hiding behind a paywall. To get the maximum experience, you might have to spend money, which makes the community criticize a game. It seems like the Arc Raiders don't want to follow that path. Hence, this decision was made.

What do you think about Arc Raiders being a $40 game instead of a free-to-play title? Let us know in the comment section.