TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 2,005
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
It was a speedrunner's dream, but it didn't work.
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Arc Raiders looked very different in its early stages of development, and even compared to its initial reveal trailer. While the team was flip-flopping between genres, one thing was clear: your goal was to kill a boss as fast as possible. Naturally, there was a lot of mobility in these early prototypes. You'd move fast to reach the boss's location, there were jump pads to fling you around, and the Snap Hook was unlimited. It's almost unrecognisable to today, where your character has a satisfying heft to them and limited stamina that makes crossing vast, open areas an intense prospect.
In his GDC talk yesterday, Arc Raiders' production director, Caio Braga, remarked that "because we made you run so fast towards the boss, all the craft that was in the game was kind of background noise." This faster, more upbeat pace is immediately apparent in the gameplay section of the old reveal trailer.
Speaking to Braga afterwards, he explained to us that one of the most impactful changes they made was to slow the game down: "The very first thing we did after the reset was reducing the speed of everything" by roughly 60%. This helped the team realise how strong aspects like the sound design, tool sandbox, and maps were. In other words, the foundations of Arc Raiders' extraction shooter roots.
"It was very odd because all the animations were kept at high speed" while they were testing the change during development, Braga jokes. Again, looking back to the original reveal trailer, we raiders sure had some pace.
The fast-paced boss-killing loop wasn't working, no matter what genre spin was laid on top of its bones, so the team leveraged their experience with PvP from The Finals, and many developers' past work at EA's DICE.
This all loops back around to a statement Braga made in his GDC talk about how Embark eventually 'found the fun' and turned Arc Raiders into what it is today. Ultimately, "We stopped forcing the game [or games] we wanted, and we looked at the game we had," he explained.
That slower pace is now key to Arc Raiders, and I imagine it inspired many of the design decisions about player movement, like every action costing lots of stamina, taking valuable time, and making unique noises. All of which, of course, can be improved through the skill tree. It just goes to show that it only takes pulling o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Arc Raiders looked very different in its early stages of development, and even compared to its initial reveal trailer. While the team was flip-flopping between genres, one thing was clear: your goal was to kill a boss as fast as possible. Naturally, there was a lot of mobility in these early prototypes. You'd move fast to reach the boss's location, there were jump pads to fling you around, and the Snap Hook was unlimited. It's almost unrecognisable to today, where your character has a satisfying heft to them and limited stamina that makes crossing vast, open areas an intense prospect.
In his GDC talk yesterday, Arc Raiders' production director, Caio Braga, remarked that "because we made you run so fast towards the boss, all the craft that was in the game was kind of background noise." This faster, more upbeat pace is immediately apparent in the gameplay section of the old reveal trailer.
Speaking to Braga afterwards, he explained to us that one of the most impactful changes they made was to slow the game down: "The very first thing we did after the reset was reducing the speed of everything" by roughly 60%. This helped the team realise how strong aspects like the sound design, tool sandbox, and maps were. In other words, the foundations of Arc Raiders' extraction shooter roots.
"It was very odd because all the animations were kept at high speed" while they were testing the change during development, Braga jokes. Again, looking back to the original reveal trailer, we raiders sure had some pace.
The fast-paced boss-killing loop wasn't working, no matter what genre spin was laid on top of its bones, so the team leveraged their experience with PvP from The Finals, and many developers' past work at EA's DICE.
This all loops back around to a statement Braga made in his GDC talk about how Embark eventually 'found the fun' and turned Arc Raiders into what it is today. Ultimately, "We stopped forcing the game [or games] we wanted, and we looked at the game we had," he explained.
That slower pace is now key to Arc Raiders, and I imagine it inspired many of the design decisions about player movement, like every action costing lots of stamina, taking valuable time, and making unique noises. All of which, of course, can be improved through the skill tree. It just goes to show that it only takes pulling o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?