Breaking away from the free-to-play model wasn't just a business decision—it completely transformed how Arc Raiders was made.
Swedish studio Embark says shifting Arc Raiders from a free-to-play format to a premium release didn't just change its revenue system—it made developing the game drastically easier. And here's where things get interesting: they claim the old model actually made it harder to respect players' time.
In a new installment of the studio’s behind-the-scenes video series The Evolution of Arc Raiders (https://youtu.be/STfD5NLpg), Embark opened up about the challenge of balancing tension and reward within the extraction shooter genre. The team's first title, The Finals, launched as a free-to-play game, but according to design director Virgil Watkins, that approach didn’t fit what they wanted for Arc Raiders.
Watkins explained that free-to-play design often forces developers to prioritize player retention over pacing. "In those systems, you end up making certain gameplay loops deliberately stickier—longer crafting times, more grinding, and subtle nudges that keep players coming back," he said. "It’s not malicious, but it's designed to make you invest more time and, ideally, a bit of money."
But that approach, Watkins admitted, came with tradeoffs. "For this kind of game, it started to feel like we weren’t honoring the player’s time," he said. "We were slowing players down artificially—stretching out crafting or session lengths. It didn’t feel good. Once we moved to premium, we could design everything to take as much time as it should take, no more, no less."
Now, Watkins says, crafting doesn’t involve waiting around for timers, and resource collection feels more logical and proportional. Players’ effort matches the rewards they receive—a balance that wasn’t possible under the old model. Still, he acknowledged that switching to a paid release comes with new dilemmas: "When you set a price, players expect fairness. So the challenge becomes—how do we monetize responsibly, without it feeling exploitative?"
Embark CEO and founder Patrick Söderlund echoed those sentiments, raising a thought-provoking question that might divide developers: "How do we adapt to what the market really wants?" According to him, a free-to-play game could easily draw tens of millions of players, but that success can be fleeting. When production began on what Söderlund calls the ‘rebirth’ of Arc Raiders, the team began questioning if massive short-term reach was worth the compromises that come with it.
Originally unveiled in 2021 as a free-to-play co-op shooter, Arc Raiders went through a major transformation two years later, becoming a PvPvE extraction shooter. Then, in June 2024, Embark officially announced that Arc Raiders would no longer be free-to-play but a premium title instead.
That choice paid off. When Arc Raiders launched in October 2025, it didn’t just perform well—it became the most successful global launch in Embark’s parent company Nexon’s history (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/arc-raiders-becomes-most-successful-global-launch-in-nexons-history).
But here’s the question that might divide fans and developers alike: Has the industry been too focused on keeping games free at the expense of quality design and player respect? Or does the free-to-play model still offer more accessibility and community reach than premium titles ever could? What do you think—should more studios follow Embark’s lead and move away from free-to-play?
