One of the most controversial elements of Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders is the game’s supposed use of aggression-based matchmaking. Confirmed by CEO Patrick Söderlund, the matchmaking system is said to track how aggressive players are and match them against each other.
While many have proven that some form of aggression-based matchmaking does exist within the game, design lead Virgil Watkins says the name is a “bit of a misnomer”. Yes, the game does track how players behave within the game, but it’s more complex than some players give it credit for.
“It’s a bit of a misnomer calling it aggression-based,” Watkins said in a chat with GamesRadar, “and it is something we’re going to keep tuning, but people aren’t far off in how they think it works.”
“We don’t do anything like skill-based matchmaking or gear-based matchmaking.”
Arc Raiders design director Virgil Watkins
With Arc Raiders devs keen to not foster a PvP heavy environment, Watkins explained that the game “can track whos hoots first and who takes damage”, but the matchmaking system does not “attempt to assume intent”. Watkins explained that a player who shoots first and misses all of their shots is the aggressor, but the game doesn’t know what the intent was behind those shots.
“We don’t make any value or moral judgments. It’s not the game judging you for your actions. It’s purely around, just, are you engaging in PvP at all?” they continued. “So it’s a bit of a blunt instrument, which is why we’re continuing to add and tune what we do with it. So we have a ton of data to work with for now, seeing how the matches go and where those players are matched up.”
Watkins also explained that players who try to game the system for matchmaking is “part of the experience” of making an online game, but there’s a lot of weighting in the matchmaking system that players do not know about.
“At present, I think we’re kind of okay with the fact that you have some agency over the situation,” the developer continued. “If you really want to try to adjust and play in a bit of a less hostile environment, you are afforded [a way] to do so. But it should be clear to people, I hope, that it’s also not binary. Obviously you can tell it’s weighted one way or the other, but it’s never like, you are now only with PvE players, you are now only with PvP players. It’s a weighted system. There’s a lot of layers to it, so it’s not quite so A/B as people might assume.”
Watkins also explained that Arc Raiders does not “do anything like skill-based matchmaking or gear-based matchmaking” alongside its aggression and other factors. This means that new players can be matched up against top-tier players with endgame gear to keep the game as unpredictable as possible, but they maay be matched up against a gentler pool of players.
Just like any game, Arc Raiders’ matchmaking parameters are very wide, and it will likely take a while for players to actually figure out how to properly game the system if they want to. (Considering players are literally adding filters and altering config files to get an advantage, they’ll probably figure something out.)
With over 12 million copies sold, Arc Raiders have a massive player population with some incredible retention, and matchmaking is only going to be more fine-tuned as time goes on. For more on Embark’s extraction shooter, read about the team’s plans to further incentivise expeditions for more players.
