(Image credit: Embark)
I enjoyed having the palate cleanser that was Arc Raiders limited-time PvE test for the short week it was here. It provided a chill alternative to the usual chaos and cheater-laden PvP, where I could fight some tough arcs, enjoy the map, and interact with players without the fear of getting ratted. And clearly I'm not the only one who enjoyed it, as Embark confirmed over 30 million PvE sessions were played during the test period.
But running the test was only half the battle, now Embark needs to decide whether it's worth adding a dedicated PvE mode to the game. Previously, the team has confirmed that it'll need some extra time to get its ducks in order ahead of making any concrete decisions, but now executive producer Aleksander Grøndal has given us a little bit more information concerning the decision process.
"Now that we’ve concluded the PvE matchmaking toggle test, we’re doing a deep dive into what that means," Grøndal says in an interview with MP1st. "Of course, we were a bit skeptical about bringing such a mode to the game for historical reasons, but now we need to discuss what we want to do going forward."
The idea of adding PvE to Arc Raiders has been slightly controversial, with some players arguing it misses the point of the game, may inflate the junk economy, or even take players away from PvP. I certainly don't think PvE should replace PvP, but that was never an option; I do believe, however, as with accessibility options, that giving players more choice is rarely a bad thing.
The PvE test also attempted to solve the issue of loot inflation by offering worse scrap in PvE lobbies. You also can't get the newest high end loot either , so I doubt it'll be a game-breaking issue. The bigger issue in my eyes is interest in Arc Raiders waning again, something that a PvE mode, among other things, could fix.
"I think the game has an appeal in its nature and that a certain player type wants to play the game without the stress, you know," Grøndal explains. "Perhaps this is more a signal that the game could support more player types, and we need to figure out how to support that. The challenge, of course, is how we do that without undermining the premise of the game itself.
"That is exactly what we need to consider now, but before we get to the content discussion, we need to understand what the need is here. Is it more a chill side mode you can play between more intense PvPvE rounds? Is it more a challenge mode that you can test your skills against AI? Or perhaps it’s a full experience with PvE only? These are some of the questions we need to dig into before we decide how to go forward. All options will have different implications on how we build future game updates."
Adding a permanent PvE mode certainly won't be easy. It'll mean more nuanced balancing and future updates will have to take PvPvE and PvE into account. While I'd certainly like to see it happen I wouldn't hold it against Embark for not wanting to take extra work on, especially since the devs have been so open about combatting crunch and how much work a live service game like Arc Raiders takes to maintain.
