adminThe Arc Raiders budget has not been officially disclosed, but Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund says the game was made with a fraction of the resources typically associated with a AAA release. His account points to a broader strategy: rethink production workflows, keep the studio relatively lean, and make a complex game genre easier for new players to approach.
Image credit: Embark Studios
How Embark approached the Arc Raiders budget
Embark Studios was founded in Sweden in 2018 by Söderlund and former DICE colleagues. The company has around 360 employees working across several projects. That is a smaller workforce than many large game developers, but Söderlund argues that AAA status should be judged by the quality and depth of a game, rather than by how many people made it.
The development cost of Arc Raiders has not been confirmed by the studio. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has estimated that the total was about $75 million, including marketing, but that figure is an external estimate rather than an official budget. The game launched in October 2025 and has sold more than 14 million copies.
Söderlund says Embark set out to deliver the scope and quality expected of a major release with fewer staff and lower costs. He describes the studio’s approach as a departure from the expanding teams, timelines, and budgets that have become common in blockbuster game development. In his view, modern tools and a different way of organising production can help a smaller team compete at that level.
Production methods and technology
Building a detailed game world traditionally involves several stages: concept art, 3D modelling, and then the placement of environmental details such as vegetation, rocks, and buildings. Embark looked for ways to reduce repetitive work in areas including texturing, lighting, and object placement.
The studio explored a range of techniques, including using terrain data, photogrammetry, procedural generation, and revised production pipelines. Söderlund says most of the efficiency gains came from reconsidering established tools and processes, rather than relying on artificial intelligence. For players, these production choices are not necessarily visible on their own; what matters is that the world feels coherent and supports exploration.
How Embark uses AI voice tools
Both The Finals and Arc Raiders have drawn attention for the use of AI-generated voice lines. Söderlund says performers are paid for their studio time and that the company seeks permission and pays for licensed text-to-speech use in selected cases, mainly for less essential lines such as ping-system audio.
He also says many lines are recorded by human performers, and that some lines in Arc Raiders were re-recorded with real voices after launch. Söderlund describes AI as a production aid for testing options before recording, not as a general replacement for actors. When evaluating similar tools, players may find it useful to distinguish between AI used during development and the use of licensed performer voices in a finished game.
Making an extraction shooter easier to enter
Arc Raiders began as a cooperative third-person shooter before Embark shifted it toward the extraction-shooter genre. Games in this category often ask players to enter a dangerous area, gather useful items, and decide whether to leave with their haul or take greater risks. Söderlund says the studio saw potential in that tension but wanted to make the experience less intimidating for newcomers.
He points to the steep learning curve of some extraction games, where new players can spend a long time navigating menus before they feel ready to play. Embark’s goal was to retain the high-stakes choices that make the genre appealing while making the overall experience more approachable. For anyone trying an extraction game, a practical starting point is to learn the basic objectives and extraction options before taking valuable equipment into a match.
Söderlund also commented on Marathon, Bungie’s entry in the genre. He characterised it as more focused on player-versus-player encounters than Arc Raiders, while also praising elements of its design, including the connection between in-game actions and progression.
Industry costs and studio size
Discussing layoffs at the four studios involved in Battlefield 6—DICE, Criterion, Motive, and Ripple Effect—Söderlund said the job cuts were difficult for both workers and the company. He noted that large projects can involve many teams and that businesses sometimes restructure to operate more efficiently. He also described layoffs as an industry-wide challenge rather than a problem limited to one publisher.
In his view, established studios can face particular challenges when modernising development processes while continuing to work with older systems. Replacing tools and pipelines takes time, especially when a large project must keep moving during the transition. Embark’s smaller scale, Söderlund suggests, gives it an opportunity to build its working methods differently from the outset.
Embark’s plans for the future
Söderlund hopes that The Finals and Arc Raiders will continue to serve their player communities over the next five years, alongside two additional games. He says those projects are still at an early stage and has not shared further details.
He does not expect Embark to grow to 600–800 employees or expand into a company with thousands of staff. The studio may add people as needed, but its aim is to keep growth measured and avoid losing the principles behind its original structure.
What the Arc Raiders budget approach shows
The Arc Raiders budget remains unconfirmed, so the reported $75 million figure should be treated as an estimate, not a verified total. Still, Söderlund’s comments outline how Embark aims to manage production: streamline repetitive tasks, rethink established pipelines, and focus on a game’s quality rather than the size of its team. Its approach to Arc Raiders also shows how a demanding genre can be shaped to welcome a wider audience without removing the risk-and-reward decisions that define it.
