ARC Raiders launched last October and has quickly become one of the biggest extraction shooters in recent years. Embark Studios and publisher Nexon have now confirmed that the game has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide just six and a half months after release.
During the first quarter of 2026 alone, ARC Raiders sold 4.6 million copies, bringing total sales to 15.5 million by the end of March before officially crossing the 16 million mark this month. These numbers were confirmed in the company’s latest earnings report, which described ARC Raiders as the “most successful new product release” in Nexon’s history.
The game’s popularity is not only about sales numbers. Nexon revealed that players have spent more than 1.5 billion hours in ARC Raiders, and over half of active players have played the game for more than 100 hours. It’s also worth mentioning that since its release, ARC Raiders has received positive reviews from both players and critics and has won several gaming awards, most recently Best Multiplayer Game at the BAFTA Awards.
Despite the success, ARC Raiders has experienced a sharp drop in player numbers, losing nearly 80% of its peak concurrent Steam players over the first three and a half months of 2026. However, this is fairly normal for live-service game launches. Its player retention is still better than the drops previously seen with games like Marvel Rivals.
Apart from confirming the strong sales numbers, the developers also tease Frozen Trail, the biggest update ARC Raiders will receive since launch. The update is expected to bring a large amount of new free and paid content, along with major gameplay changes that Embark Studios hopes will help keep players engaged and bring more users back to the game in the months ahead. For more ARC Raiders coverage, keep checking GameObserver.
