Arc Raiders Developers Shift to $40 Price Tag After Drawing Inspiration from Helldivers 2: “We Aim to Keep Accessibility in Mind”

Embark Studios’ head honcho, Patrick Söderlund, shared that the team drew inspiration from Helldivers 2 when setting Arc Raiders’ price at $40.

Originally, Arc Raiders was intended to be a free-to-play game, similar to the studio’s earlier title, The Finals. However, during development, Embark Studios made the decision to shift towards a paid model. While this choice might have raised some eyebrows, it seems to have paid off, as Arc Raiders has consistently ranked as the top-selling premium game on Steam since its launch, with estimates suggesting around 12 million copies sold.

In a conversation with an outlet, Söderlund explained, “It’s something we discussed as the game transitioned from free-to-play to a traditional business model. We looked at games like Helldivers and others and decided, ‘OK, that is where we should sit.'” He acknowledged that the decision could be debated, saying, “whether that was [the] right or wrong [decision] one can argue.”

He expressed satisfaction with the game’s pricing, noting, “I like the fact that the game is relatively affordable and that people can come in and try the game.” The team also had a solid rationale for avoiding typical premium pricing, as Söderlund elaborated: “We didn’t have a campaign, so we figured we don’t want the price to be an offender for someone. We’d rather make people feel like it’s totally worth 40 bucks.”

Söderlund hopes that players, given their substantial time spent in the game, feel they’ve received good value for their money. With Arc Raiders making such a significant impact lately, it seems that strategy has indeed worked.

In other news, Arc Raiders’ Trigger Nades have been so dominant in PvP that it’s surprising they’ve lasted this long, but Embark is finally gearing up for some nerfs.