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Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterNext time you play Arc Raiders, try ringing a bell each time you engage in PvP, or salivating whenever you get shot in the head – apparently, a distinguished neurology professor told developer Embark Studios' CEO Patrick Söderlund his game is a big psychological deal.
"I've read a bunch of articles saying the Arc Raiders is almost like a social experiment, and it kind of is, and I love that," Söderlund tells IGN in a recent interview. "I genuinely love the fact that that's what it is. I actually had a conversation at dinner three days ago with a very prominent professor in neurology that had gotten to know about the game, and said, 'Listen, you have no idea what you've built. Forget about the game itself.'"
Söderlund continues, "From just the whole idea of psychological experimentation and social experimentation, and what this game can be. She, a good friend of mine, basically said, 'You should go and do a collab or work with people from the medical field to study what behaviors are triggered in Arc Raiders.'"
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"I think Speranza is heavily underutilized": Arc Raiders boss wants to see more social elements, eyes the main city
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Arc Raiders was going to be a cross "between Shadow of the Colossus, Left 4 Dead, and PUBG" according to dev, who says Embark initially had no idea "what kind of game loop we were supposed to have"
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While playing Arc Raiders, Embark leads clarify they only added true "aggression-based" matchmaking fairly recently
I, certainly, would love to see an Arc Raiders collab that includes an electroencephalogram cap skin, or perhaps a map that doubles as an operant conditioning chamber. But Söderlund says, "We may not go that far. That would not be anything to do with the game itself, but it points to something that I believe is so fundamental with this game, and I believe is a big component to why the game has been successful."
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ NewsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES PS5 PC Gaming Xbox Series X Platforms PlayStation Xbox
Ashley BardhanSenior WriterAshley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.
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"I think Speranza is heavily underutilized": Arc Raiders boss wants to see more social elements, eyes the main city
Arc Raiders was going to be a cross "between Shadow of the Colossus, Left 4 Dead, and PUBG" according to dev, who says Embark initially had no idea "what kind of game loop we were supposed to have"
While playing Arc Raiders, Embark leads clarify they only added true "aggression-based" matchmaking fairly recently
Take a bow, Arc Raiders players: your degeneracy surprised even Embark, which didn't expect all the wallhacking – "We have to continuously find ways to waterproof the experience"
"If you're trying to send people to Mars, you're going to crash a bunch of rockets. We crashed a bunch of rockets": Arc Raiders devs explain how failed ideas led to one of 2025's biggest hits
Arc Raiders dev says "we do analyze behavior and match accordingly," so maybe start playing nice
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