Back in April, ARC Raiders and Marathon both hosted playtests that coincidentally overlapped with each other, and according to Embark Studios' technical director, while that was entirely a coincidence, it proved beneficial for ARC Raiders and for Embark Studios.
Embark Studios just got done hosting a 'Server Slam Test' this past weekend, where the game was available for free on all platforms (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) for players to hop into from October 17-19. As far as we know, it went well, with the game's Steam concurrent players peaking at 189,668, and it'll be interesting to see what Embark Studios takes from this playtest to implement in the final game.
Some learnings however didn't come from feedback on ARC Raiders at all. When speaking to PC Gamer, technical director on ARC Raiders, Virgil Watkins, admitted that Marathon overlapping playtest worked as a good compare and contrast for what Embark Studios was doing with ARC Raiders.
"It was very coincidental that they had their test around the time we did. To my knowledge, I don't think any of us knew that was going to happen," said Watkins. "It was a very great A/B test for us, because obviously they made decisions that we didn't, and vice versa. So we could kind of compare and contrast how some of those things shook out."
"[It] was quite interesting to follow in what players thought about those certain things, or what did work in their context and didn't, and what may have worked in ours."
Watkins doesn't identify any concrete examples, or claim that he and the rest of Embark Studios have been watching over Marathon like hawks, but it makes perfect sense that both teams would be eying each other, if only because they're both making extraction shooters.
While this past weekend's server slam test was undoubtedly popular, it'll be interesting to see how ARC Raiders does when it's on shelves. Unlike Embark Studios other major title, The Finals, it is not a free-to-play experience, so it doesn't have that same appeal of players being able to just give the game a try to see how they like it.
And with regards to Marathon, we know that Bungie is hosting a closed test later this month that is invite-only and under an NDA, though the future for that game is far more uncertain than the future for ARC Raiders.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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