Arc Raiders' first Expedition saw over a million players wipe, but Embark wants to find new ways to "incentivize" resets

There are myriad reasons why Arc Raiders not only attracted huge player counts at launch, but has managed to buck the typical trend and sustain them. The biggest, in my view, is how it caters to the most casual of players with elements like its aggression-based matchmaking and free loadout system, while also giving the multiplayer game’s most dedicated, high-skill grinders something to aim for with its optional wipes. Known as Expedition Projects, the first took place last month and was an opportunity for top raiders to start afresh, albeit with some additional perks and rewards. However, from speaking with Arc Raiders’ design director, Virgil Watkins, I’ve just learned that its debut wipe was more popular than I anticipated.

Wiping has always been one of the big hurdles faced by extraction shooters when it comes to attracting new players or achieving mass appeal. Arc Raiders’ decision to make account wipes optional and objective-based is no doubt one of the big factors in its mainstream success. To wipe, you must collect or craft items and donate them to the Expedition Project, completing pages until you reach the final requirement. Here, the goal is to generate as much stash value as possible in order to gain the maximum amount of bonus points for your skill tree, which last for the eight-week window until the next wipe. When I ask about the learnings Watkins and his team have taken from the first Expedition, he concedes that Embark could’ve made information about stash value a bit less sudden and murky.

“One of the bigger topics [of feedback] was the requirements for the final stage to get the skill points, and probably going out a bit too late with that information, because we wanted to hold off until we could calibrate it around the actual economy of the player base, rather than trying to guess really early on,” he explains. “So then, when we chose the number, which was the five million credits for the full thing, [we set] that as an aspirational goal that some players might achieve. But then I think a lot of players took that as like, ‘Well, now I have to do that to get it.'”

Watkins reveals that “a little over a million players” completed the first Expedition and wiped their accounts, and estimates that “something close to about 35% or 40% of those players did get the full skill points.” While he seems happy with that level of engagement, he’s aware that going through that process could be made more interesting in the future.

“We completely acknowledge that it isn’t the most engaging thing to just go for money, [and it has] the potential outcome of disincentivizing using your gear, which is kind of what people look forward to towards the end of a reset cycle,” he says. “So yeah, we’re looking at revisions on that.”

Embark is also now investigating several aspects to determine what direction to move Expeditions in for the future. It’s studying data on players who are taking things a bit slower and are chipping away at the first Expedition at their own pace, seeing if there are ways to “bring a little more variety” to the process and “incentivize” participation. Embark’s keen for these players to “not feel as though they’re being left [behind],” according to Watkins.

It’s also analyzing “how players [that wiped] are reacting to the rewards they got.” To be honest, it sounds as if it’s got a boatload of stats to pore over – “we can see down to the individual pieces of rubber people donated,” he says.

As things stand, the game’s second Expedition features largely the same kind of requirements as the first, but it does sound as if there’s potential for that final stage to evolve. Per the in-game countdown, at the time of writing, Embark’s got 43 days until the next reset window opens. That feels like enough time to cook up a fresh challenge for those wanting to wipe and earn the maximum extra skill points, but we’ll see.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more from my conversation with Watkins about Arc Raiders’ enormous success and what the future holds for the extraction shooter.