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- Arc Raiders’ design director revealed that Marathon’s failed playtest helped them understand what fans didn’t like.
- Both games had an alpha this April, with the criticism for Marathon’s playtest teaching Embark important lessons.
- The team is still rooting for Marathont to make a successful comeback.
Arc Raiders has surprised everyone with its amazing and wildly successful playtest on Steam last week, which garnered almost 200K concurrent players and rave reviews for the extraction shooter. The Embark Studios title has been embraced by fans due to its cheap $40 price and immersive gameplay.
However, if you ask the game’s design director, Arc Raider’s success would not be possible without an awkward external inspiration: Sony’s Marathon.
Why it matters: Sony’s live-service attempts turning out to be lessons of failure is an indictment of the company’s strategy.
While talking to PC Gamer in a new interview, design director Virgil Watkins said that Marathon’s April playtest helped the team make Arc Raiders better, as they knew what not to do. Both the extraction shooters had an alpha test earlier this year, but the Sony title was met with disappointment from fans.
It was a very great A/B test for us, because obviously they [Marathon] made decisions that we didn’t, So we could kind of compare and contrast.
This gave Embark an idea of what players thought of certain features, as Marathon developer Bungie made completely different decisions. Hence, Arc Raiders nailed so many aspects because Marathon’s critically panned playtest helped the devs realize what worked for the fans.
Despite the competition, however, Virgil Watkins is rooting for Marathon and is excited to see what Bungie is developing. The Arc Raiders’ design director praised the evocative art style of the Sony title, saying he was hoping to see more of the game in the future.
Unlike Arc Raiders, Marathon has not received any positive attention after its April playtest with Sony even admitting that launching the game is a risk, as it is a live service title. The title has been pushed back to 2026, and all attempts to curb negative reviews have been unsuccessful.
Many are expecting the Sony title to crash and burn, but only time will tell if Arc Raiders or Marathon will last the longest.
Do you think Arc Raiders will be more successful than Marathon? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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