To PvP or to PvE? This is a question that’s plagued Arc Raiders ever since its launch, with players split between their love for banding together and killing arcs, as opposed to their love for tearing each other limb from limb and taking the scrap to trade for more scrap—it’s a tough choice.
Embark has hinted at Arc Raiders being a more friendly extraction shooter, with CEO Patrick Söderlund explaining that it’s not about “shooting other players”, even if they didn’t expect such a passionate PvE crowd to emerge. Since then there’s been a PvE-forward event which saw players band together against the machines, plus more information shared about the matchmaking that supposedly splits off the more aggressive players.
But one player has had enough. Forward_Problem_7550 took to Reddit with an idea for a ‘Rival Gangs’ PvP mode, and honestly, I like the sound of that: “Sick of hearing about PvE. Give the PvP players what we actually want.”
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Sick of hearing about PvE, Give the PvP players what we actually want… from r/ArcRaiders
The Rival Gangs idea would see players jump into a high difficulty map modifier which would provide them with increased loot value and less active return points and hatches. But the catch is raiders would need to be equipped with at least 30,000 raider coins worth of weapons: “Hostilles have been spotted in the area. Only well-equipped Raiders are getting clearance to head Topside.”
The concept of turning PvP into a map modifier is a very appealing option to have, especially if you could go in, wreak havoc, and not have any of it damage your matchmaking standing. The idea that you’d need a minimum amount of gear would also be a sound idea, not just to give players more of an incentive to take out other raiders, but to ensure there’s somewhat of a level playing field and that everyone has something to lose. Having a minimum loadout value entry requirement is something that Marathon has also toyed with for its Ranked mode and Cryo Archive map.
But this is all just the hopes and dreams of a fan. Even with all the good will, we likely won’t be seeing the Rival Gangs map modifier in Arc Raiders. Although that’s not to say something similar couldn’t make an appearance later down the line—it’s certainly within the realms of possibility.
