Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderlund isn’t worried about Arc Raiders releasing between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
In an interview with Christopher Dring at The Game Business, the former EA studio lead talked about the studio, The Finals’ journey to profitability, and Embarks’ approach to live service development. On the specific subject of Arc Raiders release date, Soderlund stated:
“People may look at that and say, ‘what the hell are they doing?’ We have spent a lot of time looking at this from multiple angles and you know, for right or wrong, we believe that the game can launch there. This is the start of a long journey. It needs to start somewhere.”
Despite Arc Raiders’ seemingly uncomfortable launch date, the game has garnered a substantial amount of positive attention from players. When asked how, Soderlund responded with the following: “I think it comes down to not being complacent enough to believe that we can build something without making a meaningful impact or innovation. We have to bring something so that people pay attention. And if we’ve done a good enough job, maybe they’ll stick around. But in order for them to break away from what they’re already playing, there needs to be an attraction.”
This is just a small portion of an almost 50-minute interview, which is well worth listening to in full. But Arc Raiders’ situation does harken back to an all-too familiar situation for Soderlund and many Embark Studios’ initial staff. Soderlund was the executive vice president of EA when Titanfall 2 launched, itself squeezed between a new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Battlefield 1.
Whether or not Arc Raiders can sustain its momentum while caught in a similar predicament remains to be seen, though perhaps an extra decade of experience, an intense feeling of virality around Arc Raiders, and a vastly different industry landscape can make all the difference.
Arc Raiders is set to release tomorrow on PC and consoles.
