Embark Studios has pulled back the curtain on what Arc Raiders might have looked like as a free-to-play title, and according to design director Virgil Watkins, the picture isn't pretty. In a recent YouTube video documenting the game's development, Watkins explained that the decision to abandon the free-to-play model and charge $39.99 upfront fundamentally transformed Arc Raiders for the better.
The $40 Decision That Changed Everything
Arc Raiders launched with a $39.99 price tag, positioning itself alongside Helldivers 2 in a market dominated by free-to-play giants like Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, and Apex Legends. While most extraction shooters and live-service games chase the free-to-play model hoping to attract massive player bases and convert them into paying customers through microtransactions, Embark Studios took a different path.
According to Watkins, moving away from free-to-play wasn't just a business decision—it was a relief for the development team. "It's actually, in many ways, made it drastically easier," Watkins stated in the developer documentary-style video.
How Free-to-Play Would Have Affected Gameplay
Watkins provided specific examples of how the free-to-play model would have negatively impacted player experience. The design philosophy required for free-to-play games directly conflicted with what Embark Studios wanted Arc Raiders to be.
"In free-to-play, you need to, in some ways, make things a little stickier than they would be otherwise, take a little more time, a little more grind, just so players are more incentivized to stay in and stick into those loops and keep playing your game," Watkins explained. The ultimate goal of these design choices, he noted, was that players would "ideally, are incentivized to then spend money on that game."
Crafting Timers and Irrational Collection Requirements
One of the most significant changes that came with dropping the free-to-play model involved the crafting system. In the free-to-play version of Arc Raiders, crafting would have been gated behind timers that players would have to wait out before accessing the mechanic again. This is a common monetization tactic in free-to-play games, where players can often pay to skip wait times.
Beyond crafting timers, Watkins revealed that the resources players would be tasked with collecting would not have been as "rational" under the free-to-play model. The relationship between effort and outcome—how much work players put in versus what rewards they receive—would not have matched up appropriately.
Respecting Player Time
The design director was candid about how the free-to-play model would have affected the fundamental respect the game showed for players' time investment. "It made it kind of hard to respect the player's time," Watkins reflected. "We almost had a hand on their forehead going, 'Uh, slow down a little bit.'"
Once the decision to move away from free-to-play was finalized, the team was able to recalibrate the entire game experience. "As soon as that decision came down, it made us able to make things take the amount of time that felt appropriate in a lot of ways," Watkins explained. "So crafting no longer has timers on it that you have to wait out, or the amounts of things we're asking you to collect are a little more rational, or effort and outcome match each other a little more precisely, and things like that. So it's helped a lot."
The New Monetization Challenge
While the paid model eliminated many player-hostile design requirements, it introduced its own set of challenges for Embark Studios. Arc Raiders still features purchasable items, including Raider Tokens, similar to how Helldivers 2 offers Super Credits for purchase.
Watkins acknowledged that finding the right balance with post-purchase monetization remains an ongoing consideration. "On the other side—launching at a price point, you know, we still need ways to monetize that doesn't feel predatory. So that's also been an interesting challenge," he stated.
The key distinction is that players have already invested $39.99 into the game, which changes the ethical calculus around additional purchases. The team has been working to ensure that optional purchases enhance the experience without exploiting players who have already paid for entry.
A Growing Trend in Live-Service Games
Arc Raiders' approach mirrors the strategy employed by Helldivers 2, which also launched at a similar price point and found significant commercial success. Both games exist in the extraction shooter and live-service space but chose to prioritize upfront payment over the free-to-play model that dominates much of the market.
This pricing model appears to resonate with players who are increasingly wary of the aggressive monetization tactics common in free-to-play games. By paying upfront, players can expect a more balanced experience where progression isn't artificially slowed to encourage spending.
Behind-the-Scenes Development Insights
The revelations from Watkins come from an ongoing YouTube series documenting how Arc Raiders was made. These developer documentary-style productions offer valuable insights into the decision-making processes and design philosophies that shape modern game development.
The full video provides additional context and details about the development of Arc Raiders, and represents part of a broader trend of studios sharing more transparent looks at how their games come together.
Conclusion
Embark Studios' decision to abandon free-to-play for Arc Raiders resulted in significant improvements to player experience, according to design director Virgil Watkins. The removal of crafting timers, more rational resource requirements, and better alignment between player effort and rewards all stem from this fundamental shift in business model. While the team still faces the challenge of implementing fair monetization in a paid game, the core gameplay experience has clearly benefited from stepping away from the free-to-play framework that would have required adding friction to encourage spending.
