Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders has followed in the footsteps of Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 with a premium launch price of $40, something that Bungie’s Marathon is copying later this year.

While Arc Raiders started off as a free-to-play PvE title, development eventually shifted to a paid product as the free version “made it hard to respect the player’s time”. However, it wasn’t until the rampant success of Helldivers 2 that Embark decided on its cheaper $40 price.

“It’s something we discussed as the game went from free-to-play to a traditional business model,” Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund told GamesBeat. “We basically looked at games like Helldivers and other games and decided, ‘OK, that is where we should sit.’”

While some games have charged full AAA retail price for their multiplayer games—hilarious gamble, Concord—Söderlund explained that a higher price didn’t feel fair. “We didn’t have a campaign, so we figured we don’t want the price to be an offender for someone,” they said. “We’d rather make people feel like it’s totally worth 40 bucks.”

The Embark CEO explained that the fact that the game is “relatively affordable” makes it easier for gamers to gamble their enjoyment as “people can come in and try the game” without wasting a significant amount of money. Well, compared to most video game releases.

Of course, the game’s $40 price tag has done phenomenally well with Embark’s extraction shooter already shipping over 12 million copies. As the highest-selling game during Steam’s Christmas period—which saw the game see its first minor price drop—Embark’s game has become a juggernaut success with film and TV offers already rolling in.

While an official 2026 roadmap has not released for Arc Raiders yet, Embark does have new content planned for the future. Later this month, the game’s new Toxic map condition will release, and the game’s second expedition date is already set. However, we have no idea what new features will come to the game over the course of the next year.