ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 Are Cut From the Same Cloth

Summary

ARC Raiders highly publicized alpha received a very positive response, while little is know about Battlefield 6.
Embark Studios and DICE share a history, but ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 have unique identities.
Different approaches to alpha testing show DICE and Embark are charting their own paths, and this could be good for both studios.

It’s been very interesting seeing the ARC Raiders alpha recently, as it’s hard not to see the positive response it garnered and not think of Battlefield 6. Many long-time Battlefield fans will likely be aware of the ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios’ history. Many of its staff were employed by DICE who worked on successful titles such as Battlefield 4, 1, and 5. There is certainly shared DNA between Embark and DICE, but there’s a lot going on that makes these two studios cut from the same cloth.

It isn’t just a familiar heritage; the stories of ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 are curiously similar to one another, with both games having longer than expected development times, and each title hoping it lives up to high expectations from the fans. But perhaps most interestingly, neither of these big projects need to cannibalize the other, as this could be the start of two familiar studios operating side-by-side with mutual respect for their shared history.

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ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 Have a Few Important Things in Common

While ARC Raiders is a third-person extraction shooter, and Battlefield 6 will be a team-based shooter, there is a lot that links them both. Embark has had more recent success than DICE, with The Finals being a strong debut title for the studio, but its early release was not originally on the cards. Development of ARC Raiders took much longer than the company would have liked, with it being originally teased in 2021, and the project has deviated significantly from the original goals of making a PVE looter-shooter. However, this has seemingly been for the best, as the alpha was very well-received, building hype the longer it went on.

DICE’s Battlefield 6 has been similarly long in the tooth. Battlefield 2042 was supposed to be a love letter to the fans, bringing the game back to more familiar territory, yet it seemed to miss its own memo. Many players were not happy with the changes introduced in the game, such as the 128-player lobbies or Specialists, and it took a while for the game to claw back its reputation. 2042 is considered a decent title by many today, but the scars from its reception forced EA to rethink plans for the franchise, prompting the Battlefield Labs initiative that is currently inviting players to try out ideas for a future release, which many believe will be called Battlefield 6.

Battlefield 2042 released in 2021, and with the next entry coming this fiscal year, it will be the longest gap between Battlefield releases.

With Embark finding a lot of interest in ARC Raiders, there must surely be some curious eyes from DICE peeking over the fence to see what the breakaway developer is doing. It isn’t always the case that talented developers can find success by starting a studio of their own. The Callisto Protocol, boasting former Dead Space developers, received very mixed reviews upon its release, and then had to sit in the shadow of the original game’s remake being received very positively.

This time, though, things don’t have to be this way. As an extraction shooter, ARC Raiders does not have to tread on Battlefield 6’s toes. Extraction games tend to attract more niche audiences who don’t mind the idea of losing all their best gear in a bad match. Conversely, Battlefield is one of the most popular shooter franchises for its accessibility, boasting a pick-up and play style that allows even players with only a few free hours a week to enjoy it. If anything, it is Bungie who has to watch out for Embark, as Marathon’s poor reception has shown that plenty of players are still interested in extraction shooters, especially one that isn’t mired in accusations of stolen art assets.

Bungie has claimed the art assets were added by a former developer, but this is currently unconfirmed

While many old Battlefield developers did join Embark, not all of them did, and the newer talent taken on in the face of Embark’s formation has had time to hone its craft. Many of these developers will have been responsible for Battlefield 5’s post-launch support, the last project that Embark’s head, Patrick Söderlund, worked on before leaving EA. While DICE misstepped in the eyes of many fans with 2042’s launch, it is safe to say between 5 and 2042, the studio has likely learned a lot. The wisdom of these experiences is reflected in the measured approach to Battlefield Labs, where DICE is listening carefully to all the feedback from playtesters in an effort to make the next game hit the ground running.

Like Ships Passing in the Night, DICE and Embark Are Going Their Own Ways

This is not to say that everything about the two studios is identical, of course. DICE’s approach to alpha testing Battlefield 6 has been markedly different to Embark’s highly public alpha. Everything about Battlefield Labs is on lockdown, with DICE only releasing small snippets of footage to tease work in progress features, such as revamped destruction physics for the next Battlefield game. DICE community staff have had their work cut out for them recently, frequently taking to Reddit to push back against rampant speculation about controversial features that might never be coming to Battlefield.

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Obviously, each developer has made a decision on how it thinks leaks should be handled based on internal targets. In ARC’s case, the visibility of the alpha was a huge boon, with ARC Raiders gaining Twitch viewership throughout the alpha. But what worked for ARC might not for Battlefield, as while a lot has been leaked, it is indicative of something far off from the final product, with plenty of placeholder assets and flickering textures. In this light, and with high expectations to live up to, it makes sense that DICE would want to keep a lid on the alpha, even if that lid is a very leaky one.

Watching both former and new DICE developers going forward is certainly going to be interesting. It isn’t every day that two studios, especially ones with so much shared heritage, end up in similar boats, but ultimately, there is enough to differentiate them that neither needs to be looking jealously at the other. As ARC Raiders finds its feet, Battlefield 6 will continue to carry the torch, and the success of either shooter should be welcomed by the respective fans.

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