How Embark Studios Used Unreal Engine To Create ARC Raiders

Learn which tools helped build an expansive open world while optimizing the experience.

Developed by Embark Studios, ARC Raiders became an instant hit upon release, winning Best Multiplayer at The Game Awards 2025 and already surpassing 14 million copies sold, with a peak of 960,000 concurrent players. Palworld's John Buckley previously called it a new benchmark for Unreal Engine 5 games, and you can now take a peek at some of the technical approaches used in its development.

ARC Raiders' world is divided into Speranza, the main hub, and the Rust Belt, where players scavenge. Embark Studios required an engine that could handle AAA-level quality while offering tools for rapid development, and features like UE5's Runtime Virtual Texturing and World Partition helped to build vast environments that are both performant for players and efficient for developers.

The team also used a combination of the physics system, reinforced locomotion learning, and procedural animation in Unreal Engine to create these interesting and interactive enemies.

ARC Raiders

Beyond the engine, Embark made use of other parts of the Epic ecosystem, such as Epic Online Services, to handle backend operations, manage the game over time, and allow players to use a voice changer.

Curiously, Lumen and Nanite weren't used, as the team relied on a modified Unreal Engine 5 version developed with NVIDIA. Embark Studios has a very cool technology setup. You can learn more about their Building Creator system and its role in developing ARC Raiders and THE FINALS here.

Check out how other titles, such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, were putting the engine to work in production: