Arc Raiders features instruments like a guitar and recorder that players can use, and developer Embark's CEO wanted the game to have even more at launch.
Speaking to IGN, Patrick Soderlund said he was "so upset" that Arc Raiders launched with a minimal roster of instruments--today, the game has shakers, a recorder, and an acoustic guitar. Soderlund said the team designed and built "so many" more instruments, but they haven't been added to the game yet.
"I happen to be in a position of decision-making authority [laughs]. So, the answer is yes, there will be more instruments. For sure. I love them, and they create such cool moments," he said.
Soderlund said part of the complexity of adding new instruments to Arc Raiders is that they need to be designed to be enjoyed alone or played in unison with others.
"That makes it a little bit more complicated for us to add them. Then, they want, obviously, appropriate animations, but all the instruments and everything that you play has been recorded by the people that work at Embark, which is pretty cool," he said.
The executive went on to say that the "biggest surprise" with Arc Raiders is how much people have enjoyed the non-combat elements of Arc Raiders. "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," he said.
Soderlund said he had a dinner with a neurology professor who was familiar with the game. This person told Soderlund, "You have no idea what you've built." This person believed Arc Raiders could have much more space for growth beyond being a game alone.
"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,'" Soderlund said.
Soderlund said the developer "may not go that far" as to actually using Arc Raiders for medical studies, but he's intrigued about what this says for the game.
"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. We knew that we had elements of that, but we could never anticipate that it would take the route it took," he said.
Arc Raiders launched in October 2025 and has been a runaway success, selling more than 12 million copies and becoming a "very profitable" game for Embark and publisher Nexon. The success helps ensure the stability of Embark going forward, Soderlund has said, and the studio now has two more games in development.
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Speaking to IGN, Patrick Soderlund said he was "so upset" that Arc Raiders launched with a minimal roster of instruments--today, the game has shakers, a recorder, and an acoustic guitar. Soderlund said the team designed and built "so many" more instruments, but they haven't been added to the game yet.
"I happen to be in a position of decision-making authority [laughs]. So, the answer is yes, there will be more instruments. For sure. I love them, and they create such cool moments," he said.
Soderlund said part of the complexity of adding new instruments to Arc Raiders is that they need to be designed to be enjoyed alone or played in unison with others.
"That makes it a little bit more complicated for us to add them. Then, they want, obviously, appropriate animations, but all the instruments and everything that you play has been recorded by the people that work at Embark, which is pretty cool," he said.
The executive went on to say that the "biggest surprise" with Arc Raiders is how much people have enjoyed the non-combat elements of Arc Raiders. "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," he said.
Soderlund said he had a dinner with a neurology professor who was familiar with the game. This person told Soderlund, "You have no idea what you've built." This person believed Arc Raiders could have much more space for growth beyond being a game alone.
"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,'" Soderlund said.
Soderlund said the developer "may not go that far" as to actually using Arc Raiders for medical studies, but he's intrigued about what this says for the game.
"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. We knew that we had elements of that, but we could never anticipate that it would take the route it took," he said.
Arc Raiders launched in October 2025 and has been a runaway success, selling more than 12 million copies and becoming a "very profitable" game for Embark and publisher Nexon. The success helps ensure the stability of Embark going forward, Soderlund has said, and the studio now has two more games in development.
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