Arc Raiders has certainly stolen the hearts of minds of gamers this season, remaining incredibly popular weeks after its explosive launch. In fact, Arc Raiders is proving to have such a steadfast place in the zeitgeist that it made an appearance in this week’s South Park episode.
The story of how it happened comes from LinkedIn no less, as marketing lead Ashley St. Germain took to the social media platform to share the tale. According to Germain the creators of South Park contacted Embark Studios on Monday, asking for permission to use the game in an upcoming episode. Embark agreed.
Sending over footage of the game for South Park to use the following day, Arc Raiders appeared this Wednesday in the episode titled ‘Turkey Trot’. In it Tolkien is seen glued to the extraction shooter, while South Park’s annual Turkey Trot finds itself in dire need of money, having to look to Saudi Arabia for funding. This, funnily enough, is also something the video game industry is no stranger to.
This is far from the first time South Park has shown video games some love. There was the legendary episode ‘Make Love, not Warcraft’, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Guitar Hero. There are also a selection of pretty good South Park games, including South Park: The Stick of Truth, which reviewer Dan Whitehead wrote was: “A decent RPG wrapped up in a grossly hilarious licence, South Park will be remembered more for its gags than its gameplay.”
Arc Raiders, it seems, will continue its life in the spotlight for a while longer. It only recently released a patch fixing some of the games’ biggest problems, including a quick swap exploit that was throwing a wrench into close-ranged fights.
