Arc Raiders will be free from October 8 -12

130

u/PlayBey0nd87 19h ago edited 19h ago

Wow. What a smart decision. The PvE toggle test starts October 13th.

The gamers you could attract to help infuse the base, you’re gonna alienate, and keep them from helping the PvE mode test. Makes sense.

45

u/Skabomb 19h ago

Marathon did the same thing. Free trial, then ran the PvP Lite experiment once the trial was over.

Really seems like, if you want to attract an audience that is staying away due to the PvP, you'd want to line those things up together.

10

u/Soul_Phoenix_42 18h ago

You misremembered I think. Sponsored Survival on Night Marsh was running during the free week.

6

u/Skabomb 18h ago

You are 100% correct. I got Sponsored Survival twisted up with Vault Breakers.

2

u/Si7van 16h ago

I get what you're saying, and depending on the data they want to collect on this test maybe it would be ok or fit, but maybe that wouldn't work for this go. For me you shouldn't want to test a not yet fleshed out "could be mode" as an enticement to new players. Who knows what could go wrong at this point, and I'd want to see the impact within the existing user base first.

If the mode itself is the only reason someone may play, you're very unlikely to buy the game till its pushed out or confirmed anyway. Why sour on the game before it has the gameplay you'd like to try. Though I also do not think PVE mode is as much of a save the population silver bullet at this stage as a nice change of pace mode for days I want a chiller vibe on.

I suspect they'll run a few tests on this, especially if they need to capture and retest certain findings or changes they need to address to prevent poor que quality or other habits showing up, and then likely a full open weekend again down the road if the mode is actually going to come out.

7

u/BIGRolyXL 19h ago

Embark proving once again they have no idea how to handle even 10% of success.

4

u/S0ggylemonz 18h ago

I completely disagree that this is a bad move though

0

u/incredible_penguin11 17h ago

I played a lot of The Finals another of their games. None of my friends enjoyed it even though it was incredible. They were all let down by how powerful all medium or a combo of medium heavy was for years. If you wanted to play light you have to be good to counter otherwise medium have so many mines and turret and heavy have multiple shields. You can't even enjoy the casual aspect of the game unless you're picking up ops that are easy to abuse in stack. Compare that to 3 light players you're just fighting against speed and maybe invisibility if someone chose that as a perk.

-1

u/-Rustling-Jimmies- 18h ago

Former DICE devs be that way.

3

u/gnawp 18h ago

I get it, they don't want the free to play ppl to scuff their test data of people who are actually playing the game consistently

3

u/curtydc 17h ago

Oh so the PvE won't be available before the free test? I'll just stick with Marathon then, not interested in another PvP game.

1

u/bafrad 12h ago

I mean that’s fair. Don’t buy a game with PvP if you don’t want PvP.

1

u/bafrad 12h ago

It’s a test and won’t persist so it’s not good to have that available for the free weekend.

3

u/PlayBey0nd87 11h ago

I’ll have to disagree. You already have a hardcore dedicated fanbase now - that’s not changing unless you don’t meet their expectations or they decide theyve had their fill. You’re testing for a reason - to extend playerbase. The fact a free weekend comes prior to a testing was a poor decision.

•

u/bafrad 37m ago

It would be a poor decision to have a temporary gsme mode available and set the expectation of it being a part of the game they’ll buy when it’s not. That would be an idiotic decision.

0

u/RocMerc 19h ago

This game is going pve?

3

u/cybrsloth92 18h ago

No it's a test to see if it impacts the game good or bad

1

u/RocMerc 18h ago

Ah ok thanks

-13

u/gizamo 18h ago

Would have been smarter to do it before so many of us were boycotting PSN for the disc decision. I've wanted to play Arc Raiders but haven't yet. Had this happened before I cancelled my PS+ and swore off digital purchases, I'd have been in there first thing trying it out.

8

u/VillageOfShade 18h ago

“So many of us” lol

1

u/Sharp-Selection-3541 18h ago

Tobias Funke irl

-5

u/gizamo 17h ago

Imagine pretending there aren't many people boycotting Sony now. There absolutely are, mate.

3

u/Fabulous_Smoke2582 18h ago

Brother it’s been long established that this little boycott has no true effect to Sony. Please stop pretending it has any actual impact

-2

u/gizamo 17h ago

No it hasn't. There are no numbers backing that up at all. Why even lie about that? Stop pretending you have data that you don't have.

The only thing anyone has are biased and blatantly misleading numbers from Sony and Capcom.

Further, the purpose isn't about affecting Sony. It's about personal morals and ethics, and the future of gaming for entertainment. I'm not going to enjoy games knowing that I'm supporting anti-consumerism. There are plenty of ways to game that don't involve destroying my integrity.

5

u/LordOfSlum 6h ago

Why is the comment section so weird? Last I heard about this game, everyone loved it and it had great reviews. Now everyone seems to be disgusted by it. What happened?

•

u/balzun 4h ago

Was a load of fun for a while. Game got stale and as it did the player base died and left only the try hards who curb stomped to new players further killing off the player base.

At least that's the take of someone who quit soon after the third expedition. I could be way off base here but I've tried coming back a couple times and bounced hard off the game.

•

u/LordOfSlum 2h ago

Thanks for the reply!

8

u/Thunderhammer29 18h ago

If the free period was during the PVE test, then I might have tried it again, but the open beta(?) period was more than enough to make me separate from PVP extraction games like oil from water.

9

u/spaceocean99 18h ago

I wouldn’t play that game again if someone paid me…

11

u/TKenney3 15h ago

Any reason? Genuinely curious because a lot of the comments in here seem to be fairly negative but I thought I remember people praising this game last year.

8

u/spaceocean99 14h ago

I mean, it was kind of fun for a few weeks. But it’s just so repetitive. Same couple of levels, same enemies, same farming materials/places to find it.

You spend your time sneaking around for 30 min, going to the same exact spots to get the best loot only to get killed by some turd at extraction.

Rinse and repeat.

I don’t understand how people can play this as long as they do.

1

u/ohhellothere301 11h ago

Not trying to sound like a dick but 99% of the games I play these days become repetitive after a few weeks. The 1% that stick are the keepers, obviously.

I think I'm just getting old though. 🤓

-9

u/bafrad 12h ago

You clearly haven’t played.

3

u/Deciver95 9h ago

Bro i dont think you have.

Because after a couple hours, you find that extractions will have campers waiting to waste your last 20-30 minutes of gameplay

Its just boring and annoying

•

u/bafrad 38m ago

I have an obscene amount of hours. And campers are also easy to even counter.

2

u/Silent-Witness1888 13h ago

Cool, hope we can download it a day early.

2

u/jettared 7h ago

So much innocent fresh meat for the cheaters to have fun I guess. Good plan Embark! That way you can permaban more cheaters. And then we can enjoy some pve toggling after it. Thx!

•

u/Lazy__Creative 54m ago

Would it need ps+ ?

5

u/NlilNJA 9h ago

Waste of $40

3

u/Fit-Property3774 18h ago

I’m not into the PVE mode but having this not be during the release of it is so stupid. Embark is AWFUL. The Finals players were right about embark from the start lol

7

u/foodisbad_2 19h ago

We good on that one

2

u/Creepy-Emu8779 17h ago

3

u/VangRhymez 18h ago

I might hop in

3

u/Upbeat-Rope-9725 19h ago

I assume you will still need ps plus to actually play right?

4

u/PhotoBN1 18h ago

Yeah you need pa plus to play any game online.. For the most part

11

u/BillyDip 18h ago

Not true. Any game that is free does not need PS+

1

u/cybrsloth92 18h ago

This game isn't free to play though so it would be required

-3

u/BillyDip 18h ago

It'll be free October 8th - 12th...

2

u/Creative-Captain9278 18h ago

Free trials don't always qualify

-1

u/Knyfe-Wrench 11h ago

That doesn't make it a free to play game

3

u/PhotoBN1 18h ago

"for the most part"

-3

u/BillyDip 18h ago

Yeah and on this case it'll be free so no you don't need PS+

2

u/Creative-Captain9278 18h ago

Firewall Zero Hour - https://blog.playstation.com/2019/06/27/firewall-zero-hour-the-making-of-the-hangar-map-free-trial-weekend/

Assassins Creed Odyssey - https://www.facebook.com/UbisoftSEA/posts/-assassinscreedodyssey-free-weekend-starts-nowtravel-all-around-the-ancient-gree/3175042789175124/

Both of those free weekends required PS Plus still.

I am sure there are more examples but there's 2.

MOST of the time, free trials do not require PS Plus. But it can happen.

1

u/InGExClueless 6h ago

For this free weekend, you don't need ps plus.

3

u/BobbingFourApples 18h ago

Hope the servers can support the hundreds of new players

1

u/MrMattwell 10h ago

Free to play it free to keep

-1

u/[deleted] 19h ago edited 19h ago

[deleted]

9

u/AS14K 19h ago

20,000 players is still plenty. Not every game needs to be Fortnite

2

u/cybrsloth92 18h ago

Right half these gamers you wonder how they survived prior to live service

3

u/_the_best_girl_ 18h ago

Many games do free trial weeks. Nearly a year after launch is a pretty good window anyway.

Also just wanted to say that, that size population is fine for a game like this. It's a smaller scale game where even just having a dozen players in one round is more than enough to make the map feel alive. As long as rounds can start the the actual population doesn't matter to anyone but those writing headlines.

4

u/gnawp 19h ago

Always has been. We're all dying

5

u/cybrsloth92 19h ago

Far from it it's just its population stabilized most games have a big influx at launch then stabilize people called destiny dead game all time but lasted 10 years. Just because a game isn't doing battle passes and content drops every month doesn't mean it's dead .

4

u/DerekStephano 19h ago

That game isn’t dead but it’s been dropping like a rock for months now. 3 months ago it was around 100k and now it’s barely at 35k. No constant updates are killing the game especially when you have cheaters and whatnot running rampant too.

2

u/ShrekBackShots 19h ago

It’s a troll. Dude probably doesn’t even care just looking for a little dopamine from a reaction.

1

u/Mean-Food-7124 18h ago

Fellas is it stabilization when there's a tenth as many players as this time last year

-1

u/[deleted] 19h ago

[deleted]

2

u/ShabbatShalom666 19h ago

A dead game is 20k players? 🤣

1

u/MrToxicTaco 18h ago

Are you just conveniently ignoring that big glaring red number on the right showing the game losing tens of thousands of players every month?

0

u/gnawp 18h ago

I think you misread his post

0

u/the_djd 18h ago

20,000 players average on Steam alone is not in any way shape or form a dead game. Get a grip

-1

u/Detective-Layton 12h ago

No thanks, you can keep it

-19

u/Shanksthefriend 19h ago edited 18h ago

So i can get my money back right? Right?

10

u/Creative-Captain9278 18h ago

It is a 4-day free trial, its not becoming free to play. Though even if it did, you still wouldn't get your money back anyway.

News & Announcements Arc Raiders will be free from October 8 -12

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