Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 13
ARC Raiders Sinks to 30,000 Steam Players From 400,000 Peak as Updates Fail to Halt Slide
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 13

ARC Raiders Sinks to 30,000 Steam Players From 400,000 Peak as Updates Fail to Halt Slide

3 articles · Updated · Forbes · Aug 13

Summary

  • About 30,000 concurrent Steam players remain for ARC Raiders, down from roughly 400,000 near early February after seven months of steady erosion.
  • Embark's recent Shrouded Sky and Riven Tides updates lifted activity only briefly, underscoring weak retention despite the game's strong launch and late-December rebound after Cold Snap.
  • Embark still appears positioned to support the shooter with twice-yearly updates rather than three-month seasons, and its next patch, Frozen Trail, is due Oct. 8.
  • That release will add a new vertical map, outpost progression, skill-tree changes and new gear, but no recent update has yet produced a lasting turnaround.
  • The drop is sharp for a live-service extraction shooter, though 30,000 Steam concurrents—plus console players—could still be sustainable if Embark's long-term expectations were lower than the launch surge.

Insights

Can Embark's risky biannual update strategy save ARC Raiders, or will the October expansion arrive too late?
Is the steep Steam player drop for ARC Raiders a true downfall, or an illusion hiding massive console success?
Why are gamers so quick to label a live-service game dead when it has already sold 14 million copies?