Arc Raiders Surpasses Battlefield 6 in Concurrent Steam Players
Extraction shooters once seemed like an ultra-niche genre, known for their punishing difficulty. As a player with thousands of hours in various MOBAs, I found them challenging to dive into. However, Arc Raiders appears to have bridged the gap between hardcore fans and more casual players, becoming one of the most popular PC games this fall.
According to SteamDB, Arc Raiders hit a peak concurrent player count of over 354,000 on Friday night, shortly after its release a little over a week ago. This is an impressive figure for any shooter.
Notably, Arc Raiders briefly surpassed Battlefield 6, a long-established Steam giant, by reaching over 329,000 concurrent players compared to Battlefield 6's approximately 318,000 around midnight UTC Saturday morning.
Arc Raiders’ Rising Popularity
While it hasn't yet matched Battlefield 6's top player counts, Arc Raiders has attracted a large and steady player base in its first week, which is impressive for such a new title.
The game's success is notable considering Battlefield's decades-long history. Arc Raiders offers compelling advantages:
- Runs smoothly on modest hardware
- Does not require high-end graphics setups
These features, similar to Battlefield 6, make the game accessible to a wider audience.
"Arc Raiders has successfully bridged the gap between the sickos and the rest of us, as not only is it the extraction shooter of choice for the chronically employed—it's one of the biggest games on Steam."
Author's summary: Arc Raiders, a newcomer in the extraction shooter genre, quickly gained a massive player base by balancing accessibility and gameplay, even briefly overtaking Battlefield 6 on Steam.