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SoulframeEmbark Studios
Embark Studios made ARC Raiders. It is a Stockholm studio founded in November 2018 by six game industry veterans including CEO Patrick Söderlund, it is a subsidiary of Nexon, and it also makes the free-to-play shooter The Finals.
Embark Studios made ARC Raiders: it is a Stockholm studio, founded in November 2018 by six industry veterans and now a Nexon subsidiary, and its other game is the shooter The Finals. ARC Raiders was meant to be its first release, but The Finals got there first, on Dec 7, 2023. Nexon said it had two more Embark games in development on Aug 13, 2026, per GamesBeat. In the clip, early staff recall leaving big productions to found the studio.
Quick facts
| Founded | November 2018 |
| Founders | Magnus Nordin, Rob Runesson, Stefan Strandberg, Patrick Söderlund, Jenny Huldschiner, Johan Andersson |
| Based in | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Owner | Nexon |
| CEO | Patrick Söderlund |
| Games | The Finals (Dec 7, 2023), ARC Raiders (Oct 30, 2025) |
| ARC Raiders executive producer | Aleksander Grøndal |
| In development | Two new games, not named |
Sources: Embark's About page, read Oct 31, 2026; Embark's reveal post, Dec 10, 2021; Sports Khan, Dec 12, 2025; Insider Gaming, Oct 3, 2025; The Finals on Steam, read Oct 31, 2026; GamesBeat, Aug 13, 2026.
The studio and its people
Embark's About page names the six founders and dates the studio to November 2018. Its games list has two entries, The Finals and ARC Raiders. In its 2021 reveal post, the studio placed itself in Stockholm.
Four people speak for ARC Raiders most often:
- Patrick Söderlund, CEO, spoke for the studio on the "not fun" decision and on AI voices.
- Aleksander Grøndal, executive producer, signs the major posts, including those on anti-cheat and the update schedule.
- Stefan Strandberg, a founder, is named creative director in Embark's 2024 post; Gfinity calls him Chief Creative Officer in 2025.
- Robert Sammelin, art director, accepted the Game Awards trophy for the studio in Dec 2025.
Nexon
Nexon owns Embark and publishes the business numbers. It called ARC Raiders the most successful global launch in its history at 4 million sold, as PC Gamer's headline put it in Nov 2025. Its latest count is over 16.3 million copies, reported on Aug 13, 2026, with cumulative revenue above 88 billion yen, which GamesBeat converts to $551.6 million. Inven credited ARC Raiders and MapleStory for Nexon's record first half. The same August report says a closed alpha test in China with Tencent ran in July 2026 and exceeded its registration target. Nexon's results for the third quarter of 2026 had not been found as of Oct 31, 2026. All sales figures are on Player Count and Sales.
The Finals
The Finals is a free-to-play shooter Embark released and published on Dec 7, 2023. It delayed ARC Raiders: Embark moved the release to focus on it, when it was still called Project Discovery. The two share more than a studio. Embark used licensed text-to-speech voices in both, per Gfinity. PC Gamer reported that ARC Raiders added Denuvo Anti-Cheat after a successful rollout in The Finals, and an anti-cheat called Elytra was under test in The Finals on Sep 30, 2026. The two games ran a crossover in update 1.36.0, on Jul 7, 2026.
What Embark has said
On the pivot. Söderlund told Edge the team decided "Guys, this game is not fun", which led from PvE to PvPvE. The history is on Release History. In the clip, developers recall the call to add PvP.
On the update pace. Grøndal said monthly content was "not sustainable" on May 13, 2026, and Embark moved to two content updates a year. See What Comes Next.
On cheating. Grøndal admitted on Sep 30, 2026 that Embark had been "overly cautious" about permanent bans for first offenders, and said any account caught cheating is now banned permanently. See Anti-Cheat and Fair Play.
On PvE. Embark's Sep 24, 2026 post says the test is no promise of a PvE mode, and PC Gamer quoted it: "We can't ignore what the data is telling us." See PvE Toggle.
On AI voices. Söderlund said in Mar 2026 that real actors are paid for booth time and text-to-speech is mostly used for pings, and that some lines had been re-recorded. See Reception and Awards.
On the anniversary. "We're already hard at work on what comes next," Embark wrote on Oct 30, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Who made ARC Raiders? Embark Studios, a Stockholm studio founded in November 2018 and owned by Nexon, made ARC Raiders. Aleksander Grøndal is its executive producer.
Is Embark Studios owned by Nexon? Yes. Embark Studios, the maker of ARC Raiders and The Finals, is a Nexon subsidiary, as Sports Khan reported in Dec 2025.
Who founded Embark Studios? Embark's About page names Magnus Nordin, Rob Runesson, Stefan Strandberg, Patrick Söderlund, Jenny Huldschiner and Johan Andersson. Söderlund, CEO, has spoken for the studio on ARC Raiders' biggest decisions.
Did the makers of ARC Raiders make The Finals? Yes. Embark Studios released The Finals on Dec 7, 2023, before ARC Raiders, after moving ARC Raiders back to focus on it.
What is Embark Studios making next? Nexon said on Aug 13, 2026 that two new Embark games are in development, as GamesBeat reported. Neither was named in that report, and ARC Raiders' next big update has no name or date.
Sources
- About, Embark Studios, read Oct 31, 2026
- The Finals on Steam, Steam, read Oct 31, 2026
- ARC Raiders | Reveal Trailer, Embark Studios, Dec 10, 2021
- What's next for ARC Raiders, Embark Studios, May 16, 2023
- ARC Raiders is Coming in 2025, Embark Studios, Aug 20, 2024
- We're changing how we update ARC Raiders, Embark Studios, May 13, 2026
- Changes to the ARC Raiders update schedule, Embark Studios, May 13, 2026
- Live Update 1.36.0, Embark Studios, Jul 7, 2026
- PvE Toggle Beta Test, Embark Studios, Sep 24, 2026
- An Update on Anti-Cheat, Embark Studios, Sep 30, 2026
- One year anniversary of ARC Raiders: Thanks for being here!, Embark Studios, Oct 30, 2026
- Embark Studios delays ARC Raiders to 2023, Game Informer, Aug 9, 2022
- ARC Raiders delay explained: Embark says the game was not fun, Insider Gaming, Oct 3, 2025
- Arc Raiders sells 4 million copies, PC Gamer, Nov 2025
- ARC Raiders Is Facing Boycotts for its Use of AI Content, Gfinity Esports, Nov 11, 2025
- Nexon claims TGA: ARC Raiders wins, Sports Khan, Dec 12, 2025
- ARC Raiders Takes Steps to Address AI-Related Voice Acting, GamingBolt, Mar 14, 2026
- Arc Raiders has added Denuvo anticheat, PC Gamer, May 2026
- Nexon reports ARC Raiders surpassed 16.3M sold to date in June quarter, GamesBeat, Aug 13, 2026
- Nexon Reports Q2 Earnings, Inven Global, Aug 13, 2026
- Arc Raiders is finally testing a PvE-only mode, PC Gamer, Sep 2026
- The Evolution of ARC Raiders EP1 - Finding ARC Raiders, Embark Studios, Nov 21, 2025 (video)
- The Evolution of ARC Raiders S2: EP1 - Updating ARC Raiders, Embark Studios, Oct 2, 2026 (video)
Moments
The Evolution of ARC Raiders EP1 - Finding ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders
- Embark Studios made ARC Raiders: it is a Stockholm studio, founded in November 2018 by six industry veterans and now a…
- The Finals is a free-to-play shooter Embark released and published on Dec 7, 2023. It delayed ARC Raiders: Embark…
- On the pivot. Söderlund told Edge the team decided "Guys, this game is not fun", which led from PvE to PvPvE. The…
The Evolution of ARC Raiders S2: EP1 - Updating ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders
Related
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- PC Requirements and PerformanceARC Raiders needs at least a Core i5-6600K or Ryzen 5 1600, 12 GB of RAM and a GTX 1050 Ti or RX 580; Steam recommends a Core i5-9600K or Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB and an RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT, as read Oct 31, 2026. Press settings guides favor motion blur off, lower shadows and effects, and Reflex on.
- Platforms and CrossplayARC Raiders is on Windows through Steam and Epic, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and GeForce Now, with crossplay across them that you can turn off in the Gameplay settings. There is no Mac or native Linux version, and its anti-cheat has caused trouble on Linux and Steam Deck.
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See also
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Player Count and SalesARC Raiders had 81,998 people playing on Steam on Oct 31, 2026, down from an all-time Steam peak of 481,966 per SteamDB but far from dead, and Nexon reported over 16.3 million copies sold in its June quarter report. Consoles and Epic are not in Steam's count.
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What Comes NextEmbark has not named or dated the next big ARC Raiders update. What it has announced is two content updates a year, fixes every three weeks, weekly store updates, a PvE follow-up in November 2026, Trials Season 6 ending Jan 12, 2027, and Expeditions returning in early 2027.
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- PvE ToggleARC Raiders has no PvE mode as of Oct 31, 2026. Embark tested a PvE matchmaking toggle with no player damage from Oct 13 to Oct 20, 2026, players ran more than 30 million PvE rounds, the toggle was then removed, and Embark expects to say more in November.
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Reception and AwardsARC Raiders scored 86 on PC on Metacritic and 87 on OpenCritic as of Oct 31, 2026, holds 81% positive Steam reviews, and won Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2025, Online Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards and Multiplayer at the BAFTA Games Awards. The main criticism concerned AI voices and cosmetic prices.