For all my life, I’ve primarily been a single-player kind of gamer. Sure, there have been moments here and there where I’ve dipped my toes into the ice-cold pool of multiplayer mayhem — with games like Apex Legends and various Call of Duty titles making up a handful of those moments. However, those brief seasons were largely due to friend groups convincing me to buy another game just so we could play together, and while I enjoyed the camaraderie, none of those titles stuck with me for very long. But now, for the last month, playing ARC Raiders has been a top priority of mine, and its status as a multiplayer game hasn’t phased my interest in the slightest.
At this point, I’ve poured over 100 hours into ARC Raiders, and I haven’t regretted a single one of those. I can understand why some people might not like it, especially those who are generally more fond of a more casual, self-driven single-player experience. ARC Raiders is a demanding game at times, and that couldn’t be more true of someone’s first 20 hours or so. And yet, despite being a single-player fan myself, I can’t keep my hands off of ARC Raiders. Everything about it continuously calls me Topside for another round, and I find it surprising that I’m actually saying that.
Why Single-Player Games Have Reigned Supreme
- I’m not the type of competitive person most multiplayer games require
- Single-player games let me play at my own pace
- The narratives of single-player games give gameplay its purpose
- Single-player games don’t put pressure on me to keep playing
Single-player games have always been my go-to for several reasons. Firstly, I’m not a very competitive person, I can’t stand trash talk, and I’m just not willing to put in the time it takes to become skilled enough at multiplayer games in order to even enjoy them. Secondly, single-player games allow me to play at my own pace, moving through content as slowly or as quickly as possible, and tackling objectives in any order I wish.
Thirdly, I see narrative as something that gives gameplay its purpose, and multiplayer games generally put storytelling on the back burner, whereas single-player games prioritize it. And finally, single-player games typically don’t put FOMO pressure on me to keep playing for an extended period, allowing me to quit and return at any point without losing progress or missing important updates.
How ARC Raiders Broke Through the Resistance
At first, I wasn’t entirely sure whether ARC Raiders was going to be anything special. Upon heading into my first real round in the game, I was even almost certain that I wouldn’t like it, seeing it only through the lens of my past experiences with competitive gameplay. But soon, one round turned into two, then two into four, and before long, I was fully convinced ARC Raiders was the next big thing for me.
Why ARC Raiders still works for me as a fan of single-player games:
- It offers a degree of immersion that is more common in single-player titles.
- It lets me play alone and on my own terms with its perfectly viable solo mode.
- Its balance of PvP and PvE makes it less punishing than a typical multiplayer game.
ARC Raiders Is Just as Immersive as Any Single-Player Game
The first thing that really captivated me about ARC raiders is its immersion. If there’s one thing single-player games tend to get right that multiplayer games don’t, it’s that, and an extraction shooter somehow managed to make it one of its most defining qualities. The environments and visuals are breathtaking, but it’s ARC Raiders‘ audio design that really takes its immersion to the next level. The sounds in this game bring its world to life in a way that some single-player games don’t even manage, and in a way, the feeling of isolation it fosters often makes it feel like a single-player experience anyway.
ARC Raiders Lets Me Play Alone and On My Own Terms
As an introvert, I usually prefer single-player games simply because I can play them alone, and even if they do have a cooperative element, the power to choose if or when I play with others is entirely in my hands. While it’s impossible to play it alone since there will always be other players out there somewhere to either connect or compete with, playing ARC Raiders solo never crosses the introverted line, as it’s up to me whether I interact with other Raiders. Plus, if I do interact with them, I don’t have to use proximity chat if I don’t want to, because ARC Raiders has a handful of helpful emotes that are effective enough at getting the message across.
It also helps that playing ARC Raiders exclusively solo is viable and even encouraged in some cases, unlike other multiplayer games that have solo modes with various strings attached.
ARC Raiders Balances PvP and PvE for a More Forgiving Competitive Experience
Finally, I’m not a very competitive gamer, which generally makes PvP gameplay a no-go for me. However, I have found that the threat of ARC Raiders‘ enemy AI puts enough pressure on players that attempting to engage in a PvP firefight with someone comes with caveats to consider. Firing a weapon near a machine in ARC Raiders can alert it to your location, which means some encounters with other Raiders on the surface are best kept friendly, and a partnership may even be in order.
Also, with the machines already posing a threat to players, sometimes engaging in PvP just isn’t worth it for the increased risk it adds, especially if you have a valuable item in your backpack that you don’t want to lose. In the end, this led to ARC Raiders restoring my faith in the gaming community, as I learned that, under the right circumstances, not everyone is out for blood when PvP is possible but not always necessary.
ARC Raiders Is Making Me Reconsider My Stance on Multiplayer Games
For as long as I can remember, I have been adamantly against multiplayer games, and I’ve never been ashamed to admit that a lot of that is due to my lack of skill in the arena and the bad taste that trash talk and insults leave in my mouth. I’ve rarely shied away from playing cooperatively with friends, but anything beyond familiarity is almost never thought twice about in my mind. Hence, my love for single-player games. And yet, ARC Raiders is making me reconsider my stance on multiplayer games.
ARC Raiders has opened a door I didn’t expect to walk through by showing me that a multiplayer title can still have the qualities I value in single-player experiences without asking me to compromise my preferences or personality as a player. Unlike the multiplayer games I’m familiar with, ARC Raiders feels like it’s built for a spectrum of players, rarely forcing me to play in one way or another, especially when it comes to its solo mode. If Embark Studios was able to accomplish this with an extraction shooter, surely there is hope for other games like it—though I’d say it’s ARC Raiders‘ PvPvE nature that helps with that.
What surprises me most is how much ARC Raiders keeps calling me back. Most multiplayer games lose me once I’ve been downed a few times by the type of players I’m convinced I will never be, but ARC Raiders avoids that trap by offering me a loop that rewards me even when I fail. It doesn’t have to be a materialistic reward that keeps me going either, as I find the world itself worth experiencing over and over again. Its sense of immersion that I normally find only in single-player games is something I want to continuously bask in, even if I don’t make it out alive.
ARC Raiders has opened a door I didn’t expect to walk through by showing me that a multiplayer title can still have the qualities I value in single-player experiences without asking me to compromise my preferences or personality as a player.
All of this has shifted my expectations of what multiplayer experiences can be, even though it hasn’t necessarily converted me into someone who will suddenly love every multiplayer game. Rather, it has convinced me to stop writing them all off. It has shown me a version of the genre that feels more inviting than overwhelming and more intentional than chaotic. If anything, ARC Raiders has reminded me that my comfort zone isn’t a fixed boundary, and if the right game shows up, it can easily pull me out of it.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
