Patrick Söderlund on Launching Between Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7: “We’ve Analyzed It, And We’re Going For It”

With ARC Raiders dropping tomorrow, October 30, 2025, on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam/Epic) for $39.99 (Standard) or $59.99 (Deluxe), Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund is staring down two FPS titans, Battlefield 6 (October 10) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (October 27), and shrugging. In a candid interview with The Game Business, the former EA exec and DICE boss defended the timing, calling it “the beginning of a long journey” and insisting the third-person extraction shooter can carve its niche amid the chaos. “People might say, ‘What on earth are they doing?’ We’ve spent a lot of time analyzing it… and we believe the game can be released there,” Söderlund said, echoing a mantra that’s equal parts bold and battle-tested. Fresh off a Server Slam that peaked at 189,668 Steam concurrents and earned 88% positive reviews, ARC Raiders isn’t flinching, it’s charging headfirst into the fray with UE5 visuals, robot-ravaged ruins, and a 10-year roadmap in its sights. In a month stacked like a triple-decker warzone sandwich, Embark’s betting on innovation over intimidation.

Söderlund’s Titanfall 2 Scar Tissue: Lessons from the Last Sandwich

Söderlund’s been burned before. As EA’s executive VP and DICE head, he greenlit Titanfall 2 in 2016, only to watch it get crushed between Battlefield 1 (October 21) and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (November 4). The Respawn gem sold just 4 million copies in its first year (vs. BF1‘s 15M), despite 88 Metacritic acclaim, proving even brilliance can drown in bad timing. “We know the risks,” Söderlund admitted, but 2025 isn’t 2016. The market’s evolved: live-service shooters thrive on retention, not just launch spikes, and extraction’s niche (think Tarkov‘s 1.0 on November 15) craves fresh blood. Battlefield 6 leans military sim with 100-player destruction, Black Ops 7 goes cyber-chaos with hero perks, ARC Raiders? Third-person raids in a retro-futuristic wasteland, crafting mid-mission, and no hero crutches. “We have to bring something that makes people pay attention,” Söderlund said. “If we do, maybe they’ll stick around.”

X is split: optimists cheer “Finally, a shooter with soul between the giants,” while doomsayers meme “Titanfall 2 PTSD incoming.” But the slam’s 58 million ARCs scrapped and 108,000 Queen kills suggest players are hooked on ARC‘s loop, scavenge, survive, extract, over CoD‘s twitchy slides or BF‘s vehicle spam.

What Sets ARC Raiders Apart: Innovation in a Sea of Sequels

Embark (ex-DICE vets behind Battlefield) isn’t aping the big boys. ARC Raiders drops you into Speranza, humanity’s underground bunker, for 1-3 player squads raiding a machine-overrun surface. UE5 powers photoreal ruins, think Italy-inspired cities choked by brutalist ARC tech, with RTXGI lighting and DLSS 4 for 4K butter. No hero abilities, no pay-to-win, just skill-tree progression, modular weapons (plasma rifles to drone hacks), and risk-reward tension where death means losing your haul. The slam proved it: 30 million rounds fired, 2.3 million Rocketeer knock-downs, and a “perfect” Reddit chorus begging for no PvE dilution.

Söderlund’s 10-year vision (no fixed roadmap, just “sustainable” drops) banks on community listening, slam tweaks like refined knock-downs came from feedback, and launch adds the Lucky Duck Bundle for pre-orders. Cross-play, cross-save, and a premium model dodge F2P fatigue. As one X user put it, “Between BF and CoD? Bold. But if the slam’s any sign, ARC might outlive both.”

The Verdict: Risky? Yes. Reckless? Maybe Not

Söderlund’s not naive, he’s battle-scarred. But 2025’s shooter landscape rewards differentiation: Battlefield 6 chases sim fans, Black Ops 7 courts esports chaos, Tarkov 1.0 locks in hardcore. ARC Raiders? Accessible extraction with AAA polish, no hero bloat, and a decade-long promise. The slam’s 190K peak across platforms says players are ready to raid between the giants. Will it Titanfall 2 itself into cult status or carve a Warframe-style empire? Tomorrow’s launch is the first extract, gear up.

Stay Tuned for More Updates

For launch guides, day-one patches, and 10-year roadmap teases, follow Embark Studios on X and Twitch. Hyped4.com’s your extraction hub, because in ARC Raiders, timing isn’t everything… but surviving is.