Nexon's new title "ARC Raiders" has sold a cumulative 12.4 million copies and reached a peak concurrent user count of 960,000 in about two months since launch, continuing its global success. After proving its gameplay and innovation by winning back-to-back awards at The Game Awards (TGA) and the 2025 Steam Awards about a month after launch, it is drawing attention for maintaining growth even after release.
According to Nexon on the 16th, ARC Raiders is showing an unusual growth curve, not stopping at the early launch window when user attention is highest but steadily setting new peak-concurrent records through ongoing updates such as "Cold Snap." This indicates continued inflows of new users and the formation of a solid fandom after launch, and users cite its overwhelming sense of immersion as the reason. Reviews note that it goes beyond graphical polish to provide an experience in which the user fully assimilates with the in-game character, the "Raider."
ARC Raiders' immersion is built across its worldbuilding and overall presentation. The main setting, the "Rust Belt," takes place in a so-called "post-post-apocalypse" where civilization has collapsed after an invasion by the mechanical lifeforms called "Arc," and nature has reclaimed the surface. On top of that, it applies a "cassette futurism" art style that combines 1970s–80s analog sensibilities with future tech, visually contrasting the cutting-edge mechanical lifeforms with Raiders armed with on-the-fly–modified gear. This setup naturally gives the entire play experience the context of survival amid technological inferiority.
Sound design is also one of the elements that build the game's sense of presence. Gunshots are implemented so that reverberation changes depending on indoor or outdoor environments and spatial structure, affecting distance and positional awareness in combat. The Arc's mechanical operating noise heard from afar induces tension even before combat and prompts preparation for threats outside the field of view. A defining feature is that visual and audio elements are designed to work together rather than separately.
Character design also avoids locking players into fixed roles. Instead of selecting predefined characters, users directly configure appearance, weapons, gadgets and skill trees, allowing different developments depending on play style. As a result, the character is perceived not as a mere object of control but as the outcome of the chosen play approach.
Users prepare for the next battle by repeatedly managing resources and servicing equipment at the underground base "Speranza." This process is not downtime separated from combat but framed as part of the flow necessary for survival. Choices and management continue outside combat sections as well, maintaining a consistent sense of tension throughout play.
In how content unfolds, the structure centers on user participation. In the "North Line" update in Nov., a community event required resolving an in-world incident to unlock a new region. Users carried out cooperative missions to open the route leading to the new map "Stella Montis," and the area actually opened once the goal was achieved. With competition and cooperation operating simultaneously, users participate not as content consumers but as drivers of progression.
The recently applied winter update "Cold Snap" makes environmental factors directly impact gameplay. Severe cold and blizzards affect visibility and sound transmission, and prolonged exposure puts the character into a "frostbite" state. Presentation that changes character motions with dropping body temperature ensures environmental changes are more than visual effects. This raises the importance of route selection and item preparation, bringing changes to play styles.
For its long-term success strategy, the "expedition project" functions as a key system. In exchange for resetting growth elements of existing characters, the system provides permanent rewards and additional growth opportunities. Rather than a forced season reset, it leaves the choice to users, giving repeat play a new set of goals.
It is also used to mitigate the oft-cited gap between experienced and new users in the extraction genre. Experienced users can opt into new challenges, while new users can play in an environment with a relatively lower barrier to entry. This cyclical structure helps keep the in-game user distribution gradual and balanced.