What Is ARC Raiders? Free-to-Play, Platforms and Price Explained
ARC Raiders in one page: who makes it, what kind of game it is, which platforms and editions exist, what it costs, and why "is it free" keeps coming up.
Applies to: ARC Raiders basics — developer, genre, platforms, price and the free-to-play question — checked on October 15, 2026
Quick answer
ARC Raiders is a paid multiplayer PvPvE extraction shooter from Embark Studios, released October 30, 2025 on PC (Steam and the Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and GeForce NOW, with full cross-platform multiplayer. It is not a free-to-play game — the Steam list price was $39.99 at the time of this check. The "free" question comes from two separate things: the game was announced as free-to-play back in 2021 before the studio changed it to a paid title, and Embark ran a short free-to-play window around the Frozen Trail update in October 2026.
At a glance
ARC Raiders is a paid multiplayer PvPvE extraction shooter from Embark Studios, released on October 30, 2025. You drop onto a machine-ruled surface, loot and fight your way to an extraction, then keep what you carry out. It is not free-to-play.
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Developer / publisher | Embark Studios | Steam store listing |
| Genre | Extraction shooter (PvPvE), third-person | Steam / official site |
| Released | October 30, 2025 | Steam store listing |
| Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic) · PS5 · Xbox Series X|S · GeForce NOW | Official site |
| Price | $39.99 list (Steam showed $19.99 during a sale on October 15, 2026) | Steam store API |
| Free to play | No | Steam (is_free = false) |
What kind of game it is
ARC Raiders blends the risk of an extraction shooter with a crafted, atmospheric world. Matches flow between the surface, ruled by lethal machines called ARC, and the underground settlement of Speranza, where you repair and craft gear between runs. You play solo, as a duo or in a trio, and the main threats are the ARC machines and the other Raiders on the map — cooperation is possible, but nothing enforces it.
It is a third-person game built in Unreal Engine 5. Embark Studios is the developer and the publisher; the game carries a Nexon trademark alongside the Embark marks.
Platforms and crossplay
ARC Raiders is sold on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, on PlayStation 5 and on Xbox Series X|S, and it is available through the GeForce NOW cloud service. Steam lists Cross-Platform Multiplayer as a feature, and the official site states that social play works across PlayStation, Xbox and PC, so squads can form across platforms.
Price and editions
The base game is a single-purchase title. At the time of this check the Steam list price was $39.99, discounted to $19.99, and a Deluxe Edition is also sold that bundles cosmetic sets and 2,400 Raider Tokens. Prices move with sales and by store and region, so check the store page you buy from rather than treating any figure here as current.
Why people ask if it is free
The "is ARC Raiders free" question has two separate roots, and neither makes the game free today.
| What people remember | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| "It was announced as free-to-play" | True, in 2021. Embark Studios later changed the model, and ARC Raiders shipped as a paid title on October 30, 2025. |
| "It was free a few weeks ago" | Also true. The Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, 2026 came with a short promotional free-to-play window, which has since ended. |
Some third-party pages still describe ARC Raiders as free-to-play. That is out of date. The official store listing and the developer's own material treat it as a paid game.
What is not confirmed
- A permanent free-to-play or subscription model. Nothing official describes one; the 2026 free window was promotional.
- Future price changes or sales. Any figure is a snapshot.
- A combined cross-platform player total. No official figure covers PC and consoles together (see the player-count page).
Sources and review scope
- Steam store API — ARC Raiders app details — source for the name, developer and publisher (Embark Studios), release date (October 30, 2025), genre, platforms, price and the
is_free = falseflag. - Embark Studios — ARC Raiders official site — source for the game description, the platform list and the cross-platform statement.
- Steam store listing — the rendered store page, checked on October 15, 2026.
- Wikipedia — ARC Raiders — background only, for the 2021 free-to-play announcement and its later change; the current paid status is confirmed against Steam, not Wikipedia.
Checked on October 15, 2026. The free-to-play history is reported as history; the current model is quoted from the store listing. No figure here is presented as a permanent price.
Checked on October 15, 2026 against the Steam store listing and the Steam Web API app-details, current-players, review-summary and news endpoints for ARC Raiders, and Embark Studios' own posts on arcraiders.com. Live figures such as the concurrent-player count and the review total are timestamped snapshots that keep moving and are labelled as such. Game-internal details that Embark Studios has not published come from the community-run ARC Raiders Wiki and are labelled third-party, not official. Player-tested values are marked as such. Anything neither source states is written as unconfirmed rather than guessed.
Not independently play-tested. This is not a claim that every platform or game version was tested. Source review: Oct 15, 2026.
More ARC Raiders Guides
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A starting point for new ARC Raiders players: the core loop, the quiet systems the opening does not surface, and how to survive the first raids.
ARC RaidersARC Raiders Update and Patch Notes: What's Live Now (Frozen Trail)
The current ARC Raiders version, the Frozen Trail 2.0 update and the patches after it, the twice-a-year cadence, and what Embark Studios has not dated.
ARC RaidersARC Raiders Player Count and Steam Charts: How to Read the Numbers
The official ARC Raiders concurrent-player figure from Steam, why the third-party trackers disagree with each other, and what no source publishes.
ARC RaidersARC Raiders PvE Mode: The October Toggle Test, Rules and Dates
How the ARC Raiders PvE matchmaking toggle works, when the October 2026 test runs, what changes, and whether a permanent PvE mode is coming.
ARC RaidersARC Raiders Maps and Map Conditions: The Current Rotation
Every ARC Raiders map and map condition named on the official map-conditions page, how the hourly rotation works, and what each condition means.
ARC RaidersARC Raiders Skill Tree: Branches, Tiers and Respec Cost
How the ARC Raiders skill tree is built — three branches, how points are earned, the tier thresholds and the respec cost — with the Frozen Trail overhaul noted.