Instead of PvP or PvE, One ARC Raiders Player is Choosing…

Rather than engaging in PvE or PvP combat, one creative ARC Raiders player is instead choosing to spend their time playing as a trader NPC. It seems that other ARC Raiders players are engaging with this gamer in good faith, playing along with the situation rather than simply killing them on sight.

ARC Raiders is one of the biggest gaming successes in recent memory. Lifetime sales for ARC Raiders recently reached 12.4 million, continuing the momentum it started to build at the tail end of 2025. The game has successfully helped turn the extraction shooter genre mainstream, while putting its own unique spin on it. While the sales figures are impressive in their own right, it's player retention that really separates ARC Raiders from its competition. It continues to retain hundreds of thousands of concurrent players on Steam, with frequent 24-hour peaks that are not too far off from its all-time peak, which was hit two months ago. Nowadays, the revolving door of live-service titles makes it difficult for these types of games to retain players over long periods of time, but ARC Raiders is defying the odds, doing so even as a new IP.

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ARC Raiders Players Have Found an Even More Wild Way to Cheat

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By Dominik Bošnjak

This ARC Raiders Player is Spending Their Time As a Trader, and It's Hilarious

Over on TikTok, creator Grimm Hollywood shared a clip in which they were roleplaying as a trader NPC in ARC Raiders. Rather than engaging in PvP or PvE combat, the player is sitting on the floor playing their guitar, with their wares laid out in front of them. They explain to another player over voice chat the items they have for sale, and even completes a trade by haggling for their items. It's a fun interaction that really shows there are unique experiences to be had, even for players who think outside the box and play ARC Raiders in ways the developer may not have intended.

This type of fun playstyle only works when other players engage in good faith and play along. They could simply shoot Grimm Hollywood while they play as a trader, but that's hardly fun. Ultimately, it's ARC Raiders' aggression-based matchmaking that allows this to work. The system matches players with playstyles similar to their own, meaning if they don't attack other players on sight, then they will be put into lobbies with others who share those same tendencies. If matchmaking were random, it's difficult to believe that Grimm Hollywood would last too long playing as a trader, as more aggressive players would simply kill him and take his loot.

Since the release of ARC Raiders, it's been fun to see players play the game in unique and interesting ways. Some players are pure PvP and will attack any other player on sight at any time. Others opt for a more passive approach, choosing to avoid conflict with other players wherever possible. But there are players who take on more specific tasks, like the ARC Raiders player who filled their entire stash with rubber ducks. It's a sign of ARC Raiders' versatility that players can hone in on stuff like this and play however they want.

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Heading into 2026, it's set to be a massive year for ARC Raiders. Developer Embark Studios recently revealed that there's tons of content coming to ARC Raiders over the next 12 months, including multiple new maps that will vary in size. However, it has not yet revealed a full 2026 roadmap for the game, so there's still plenty to be revealed in the coming months.

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