Arc Raiders And Its Big Inventory Problem
Arc Raiders surprised a lot of players when it launched. It is a stylish PvEvP extraction shooter with a chilled vibe, satisfying combat, and a world that feels fun to drop into again and again. But for many players there is one big frustration that keeps coming up. The crafting and upgrade system.
If you dislike inventory management, Arc Raiders can feel rough. Progress is often bottlenecked by a lack of specific materials, while your stash is overflowing with other items you are not using. You might have piles of components that sit there doing nothing while one crucial part keeps you from upgrading a weapon or piece of gear.
This is not an accident. The system is clearly designed to limit how quickly you can progress and to push you into grinding for more resources. That is a normal approach for extraction shooters, but in Arc Raiders it can feel more punishing because there is no in game way to balance out your inventory through a player driven economy.
In Escape from Tarkov for example, the experience is far more brutal and unforgiving in combat. However Tarkov allows players to sell and buy items through its flea market and traders. That means the wider player economy can help smooth out some of the worst inventory issues. If you have too much of one resource and not enough of another, you can often trade your way out of that dead end.
Arc Raiders on the other hand is very happy to connect players together for matches, but it does not yet let them trade key items with each other. No swapping, no selling, no proper marketplace. For a loot and progression focused shooter that leans so heavily on crafting materials, that is a major missing piece.
Player To Player Trading Is On The Table
There is some good news. In an interview with GamesBeat, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund discussed the future of Arc Raiders and specifically addressed the idea of letting players trade with each other.
According to Söderlund, the team wants to explore more trading related features inside the game. He describes it as fun and a good part of the experience that deserves to be developed further. Crucially, he also talks about allowing players to trade among themselves as something they absolutely need to look at over the long term.
That is about as close to a confirmation as you can get that some form of player to player trading is planned. However he is also clear that nothing is fully decided yet. There is no firm design, no release window, and no detailed explanation of how such a system would work. Think of it as a promise in spirit rather than a concrete feature on the roadmap.
For players struggling with the current inventory and upgrade bottlenecks, that can be a bit frustrating. The demand for a trading system is obvious. Being able to swap spare gear or components with friends or even trade on a wider market would instantly make the progression loop feel less random and less punishing. It would also deepen the social side of the game, adding reasons to cooperate and connect outside of matches themselves.
At the same time, the developers have to be careful. Once you introduce trading and any kind of market, you have to think about balance, inflation, item rarity, and possible exploits. Extraction shooters need tension around gear and loss. Make trading too open and you risk players bypassing the core survival and looting gameplay. Make it too strict and you have not really solved the inventory management problem.
So while the studio seems genuinely interested in trading, they are not rushing it. They are still in the stage of exploring what makes sense for Arc Raiders long term.
Building A Live Game That Can Grow
Söderlund also talked more broadly about how Embark is approaching Arc Raiders as a live game. The team is constantly monitoring how people play and what they enjoy or avoid. The internal list of changes and new features is always shifting as real player data comes in.
Instead of a fixed feature map carved in stone, the developers treat Arc Raiders as a living project that can change direction based on community behavior. If a certain activity is unpopular or a system is causing more pain than fun, they can adjust priorities. Trading is one item on a long and flexible list that also includes new content, balance tweaks, and world building.
For Söderlund, this is part of the appeal of making games today. You do not just ship a finished product and walk away. You build a universe that can evolve for years, adding new layers of story, mechanics, and systems as players spend more time in it.
He even mentions wanting to spend more time in the Arc Raiders universe himself, learning more about the mysterious Arcs and why they are there. That hints at more narrative development down the line, not just mechanical updates. Fans who enjoy the world and lore can probably expect that side of the game to expand as well.
In the near term though, many players will be watching closely for any signs that a real trading system is moving from vague idea to concrete plan. If Embark can deliver a smart player to player trading feature that respects the tension of extraction gameplay while easing the worst inventory friction, Arc Raiders could become a much more satisfying long term grind.
For now, the message is simple. Trading is coming in some form someday, but do not expect it to fix your upgrade bottlenecks just yet. The developers know it is an issue and they are interested in solving it, but they are playing the long game with how Arc Raiders will grow.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/embark-ceo-says-arc-raiders-should-do-more-with-the-trading-part-of-the-game-and-hes-right/
