Arc Raiders publisher Nexon did not expect Embark Studio’s juggernaut extraction shooter to be anywhere near as popular as it currently is. In just three months, the multiplayer game has become a live-service behemoth with over 12 million players.
Alongside its 12 million player count, Arc Raiders is incredibly stable in terms of player base. While many live service games, including the US’ top-selling game of 2025 Battlefield 6, drop off considerably after launch, Embark’s game is staying remarkably flat as it stabilises after its peak.
While previous Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney recently explained that he believed Embark and Arc Raiders were special enough to acquire, much to the chagrin of his peers, current CEO Junghun Lee confessed that they didn’t expect the game to blow up like it has.
“I didn’t expect Arc Raiders to be this successful,” Lee told Game File in a recent interview. “It’s had around double the amount of success that I had initially anticipated.”
Lee explained that the prior predictions of Arc Raiders’ success relied on the fact that they couldn’t “say that the gameplay of Arc Raiders itself is totally new and is completely unprecedented”. While the game is unique in how it combines specific elements, the game is a clone of other extraction shooters, but done with a large amount of respect for the player.
The Nexon CEO claimed that the game is only really innovative in how its made with Embark able to “render these amazing graphic assets”. It’s a unique look and a more casual entry point into an existing genre made almost entirely for the hardcore, and that’s made the game an instant-win with gamers.
With the success of Embark’s new game, Nexon is hoping to do more business with Western developers. The game is proof that a Western developer and an Eastern publisher can work hand-in-hand, something that’s proven to be troublesome in the past with publishers like Square Enix.
“We are able to enjoy more awareness in the western community now,” Lee told the outlet. “And we also have a lot of different developers who are curious to know how Embark and Nexon work together. I think this is an exciting and amazing opportunity for us, and I do definitely have this willingness to work more with more western developers who are innovative.”
Arc Raiders has been a huge hit. While not as big as Helldivers 2’s 20 million sales, although that game has been out for far longer, the game is continuing to sell like hotcakes. There is oncoming competition from Bungie’s Marathon, but with a strong 2026 ahead of it, Arc Raiders has already succeeded.
