Arc Raiders sets another Steam record for a third weekend in a row, surpassing 481,000 concurrent players despite competition from Call of Duty and Escape from Tarkov

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Embark Studios' latest shooter just keeps growing

Arc Raiders
(Image credit: Embark Studios)

Arc Raiders is an unstoppable force at this point, it seems, having just smashed its concurrent player record on Steam yet again for a third weekend in a row, despite competition from the newly released Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Escape from Tarkov 1.0.

Every weekend since its launch, Arc Raiders has broken its own record on Steam, with the latest concurrent player peak – set yesterday, November 16 – standing at 481,966 (thanks, SteamDB). That follows previous records of 354,836 on its first weekend and 462,488 on the one after.

That's impressive enough as it is, but it's even more so when you consider what a busy weekend we just had for new shooters. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched on Friday, November 14, with the 1.0 release of tactical extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov arriving the following day.

Two shiny new shooters clearly weren't enough to drag fans away from Embark Studios' latest title, despite respectively being part of one of the most popular FPS series of all time, and a highly anticipated title that's been in early access for the better part of a decade.

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All this is also overlooking Arc Raiders' player count on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Embark hasn't shared those numbers, but there's no doubt that the latest Steam record only reflects one portion of the game's fanbase.

Arc Raiders' latest record comes days after Embark made changes to duo matchmaking and cosmetic prices, even if not everyone is completely satisfied with the newly reduced costs, with the prices of individual skins generally not altering much at all. On the whole, though, it's still a win for the players who'd been complaining about them.

Arc Raiders players are divided after Embark Studios nerfed a perk that everyone was gunning for, but don't worry, the devs are thinking about "adding a skill reset mechanic."

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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