Arc Raiders And Its Hands On Approach To Loot
Arc Raiders is carving out its own identity in the growing world of extraction shooters, and one of the most interesting design choices is how it handles trading and loot. While many online games lean heavily on auction houses and player markets, Embark Studios is taking a very different route.
Design lead Virgil Watkins recently explained why the team tested an auction house system similar to Escape From Tarkov and MMOs, and then deliberately scrapped it. The core reason is simple: they want Arc Raiders to be about the thrill of finding gear, not just stacking coins and shopping from a menu.
Right now players can technically make money as traders in Arc Raiders, but it is an old school and very manual process. You need to group up with other players, load into a raid together, drop items or blueprints on the ground, and then those items can be sold or used later. It is clunky compared to a slick market interface, but that friction is part of the experience Embark wants to preserve.
Watkins says that building a full auction house would shortcut the game into being all about currency. Instead of caring where items drop or feeling hyped when you finally find a part you need, players tend to optimize the market: grab whatever sells for the most, cash out, and then buy a perfect loadout. The focus shifts from exploration and survival to price charts and flipping items.
Embark tried a system like this during development and found it did exactly that. The loop became centered on coins instead of gameplay. The team pulled back and doubled down on making loot itself the star of the show.
How Arc Raiders Balances Vendors, Crafting, And Progression
To support that philosophy, Embark has carefully tuned how players get gear. There are three main pillars: vendor purchases, crafting in the workshop, and direct drops out in the world.
Vendors in the hub area of Speranza do sell useful weapons and shields, and in some cases you can outright buy high tier items to finish off a build. However there are intentional limits. Many powerful items can only be bought a few times before a cooldown kicks in, often around twenty four hours for restocks. That makes vendor shopping a strategic option, not a complete shortcut.
This design gently pushes players toward crafting. The workshop is set up so that making your own gear is usually the better long term deal than buying from vendors. The catch is that advanced crafting requires investment. You need to upgrade your workshop over time before you can produce high end equipment consistently.
In a game with a full auction house there would typically be a third route: bypass both vendors and crafting by buying exactly what you want from other players instantly. These markets are convenient and tend to become the default path to power. Watkins points to games like Escape From Tarkov and classic MMOs with player driven economies to show how quickly the meta can turn into running money making routes instead of chasing loot for its own sake.
Arc Raiders is intentionally avoiding that trap. By keeping access to gear tied to drops, limited vendors, and progression based crafting, the game encourages players to get out into the world, hit the right locations, and feel that rush when a rare piece finally appears. It is slower and more deliberate but fits the extraction shooter fantasy of risk, reward, and tension.
The Future Of Trading In Arc Raiders
Embark is not finished with trading as a system, but any future expansion will stay aligned with this player first approach. Rather than build a global market board, the team wants to make in person trades feel more tactile and social.
Watkins describes one idea they are exploring: instead of just dropping an item on the floor for someone else to pick up, your character would physically hold out the item and the other player would interact with it directly to take it. Mechanically it does the same thing, but visually and emotionally it feels more like a deliberate handoff than littering loot on the ground.
These small touches are meant to support an organic trading culture where players talk, bargain, and build relationships, rather than silently min max a spreadsheet economy. It fits with Arc Raiders’ overall focus on immersive raids and squad play.
Beyond trading, Embark has also hinted at a broader roadmap for Arc Raiders. The team is planning several new maps in 2026 that will cover a range of sizes and styles, which should matter a lot to PC players who care about replay value and variety in extraction shooters. They are also openly acknowledging pain points, such as how clunky it can feel to assemble new loadouts when you just want to jump back into a raid. That willingness to iterate on menus and quality of life features is good news for anyone who spends time tweaking builds and gear on PC.
For gamers interested in systems and progression, Arc Raiders is shaping up to be an interesting case study. Instead of chasing the convenience of a massive in game marketplace, Embark is betting that players will appreciate a more grounded, loot first approach. If you enjoy the satisfaction of finding, crafting, and carefully trading gear rather than just buying everything from a global shop, Arc Raiders’ philosophy might be exactly your style.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-almost-had-an-auction-house-like-escape-from-tarkov-but-embark-nixed-it-because-the-game-became-just-about-coins/
