ARC Raiders Just Came Out in October But It’s the Top Gaming Search of the Year

ARC Raiders has officially become the most searched video game of 2025, according to new data released by Google, beating heavy hitters such as Battlefield 6, Grand Theft Auto 6, Minecraft, Roblox, and many more. Despite only releasing at the end of October, ARC Raiders has risen to fame as one of the standout surprises of the year. While many believed Embark’s extraction shooter was doomed to fail by launching immediately after Battlefield 6, search trends have now solidified its popularity among gamers.

After finding success with The Finals, Embark Studios returned last month with its second title, and this time it was switching up the genre and giving fans a third-person extraction shooter we now know as ARC Raiders. After restarting development and falling off the radar for many gamers, it felt destined to fail by choosing to launch between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But that most certainly wasn’t the case. ARC Raiders continued to break its concurrent player count record on Steam for two weeks running, peaking at more than 481,000 players on the platform. It also received rave reviews from both players and critics, with a current Steam review rating of “very positive.”

ARC Raiders Is the Most Searched Game of 2025

ARC Raiders’ success has even gotten it a nomination for Best Multiplayer Game at the Game Awards. But nobody expected it to become so popular that it was more talked about than Battlefield 6, Grand Theft Auto 6, and even Minecraft (which is the second best-selling game of all time). According to Google’s Year in Search for 2025, ARC Raiders is officially the top trending game in terms of search, followed by Battlefield 6 in second place. What might be even more surprising to some is that Grand Theft Auto 6, undoubtedly the most anticipated game in history, is in seventh place.

So, why has ARC Raiders been so popular? Well, there are likely a multitude of reasons, but one thing that always comes up in conversation is how accessible it is to all gamers. Unlike other extraction shooter games, such as Escape from Tarkov, ARC Raiders is enjoyable for both experienced gamers and newcomers. Plus, the game’s hilarious encounters with other players, outstanding AI enemies, stunning visuals, and polished gameplay have also helped it become one of the biggest shooters of the year.

It’s no surprise to see Battlefield 6 take the second spot, either. After the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042 in 2021, publisher EA and developer DICE vowed to right their wrongs upon their return, giving fans one of the best Battlefield games in years with its latest installment. Hype for Battlefield 6 quickly skyrocketed after fans got to go hands-on with its open beta, and that momentum carried over into its full release, where it peaked at more than 747,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. EA also recently announced that Battlefield 6 is the best-selling shooter game of the year.

Embark also found massive success with The Finals, receiving generally positive reviews and reaching more than 10 million players globally in its first two weeks of release. Sadly, as is the case with the majority of live-service titles, its player count dwindled, and parent company Nexon stated that the free-to-play title was performing below expectations. If the studio is to ensure ARC Raiders doesn’t meet the same fate, it will need to ensure it has plenty of engaging content planned for the coming years.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be a problem for the studio, as it is already gearing up to release its second major content update for ARC Raiders later this month. The Cold Snap update will bring with it a new Snowfall Map Condition, a Flickering Flames event, new Quests, a new Raider Deck, and more. There’s no confirmed release date for the patch just yet, but the game’s roadmap states it will launch sometime in December.