ARC Raiders Ends 2025 With Another Win Over Battlefield 6

ARC Raiders has closed out 2025 with another victory over Battlefield 6, as Embark’s extraction shooter has managed to maintain 91% of its playerbase on Steam since launch, while EA’s newest entry in the Battlefield series has lost 85% of users on the platform. Although ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 are two different types of shooters, many believed the former was doomed to fail by launching between Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Battlefield 6. But with the year now over, it’s clear that the underdog has come out on top.

After the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042 in 2021, EA and DICE went back to the drawing board and made a monumental comeback last year, bringing fans a return to form with Battlefield 6. Reviews for the latest entry in the series showered praise on its polished multiplayer experience, stunning graphics, innovative new gameplay mechanics, and more. DICE has since released multiple content updates for Battlefield 6 following its launch in October, adding new maps, weapons, modes, and more to the shooter. Publisher EA even claimed that the newest Battlefield game is the best-selling shooter of 2025, but it didn’t take long for the attention to shift to the new kid on the block: ARC Raiders.

While development setbacks resulted in ARC Raiders falling off the radar for many gamers, with some even claiming that the extraction shooter was doomed to fail due to its release date being between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (two of the biggest shooters of the year), ARC Raiders has been a massive success for Embark Studios. As of writing, Steam reviews for the title are “very positive,” and it also holds a respectable Metacritic score of 86. The shooter has proved to be so popular with gamers that it even picked up Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2025, beating the likes of Battlefield 6, Split Fiction, Peak, and Elden Ring Nightreign.

ARC Raiders Keeps 91% of Its Playerbase as Battlefield 6 Loses 85%

With a strong launch back in October, many likely expected Battlefield 6 to maintain its player base for the remainder of the year, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case. As spotted by Forbes, data from SteamDB shows that Battlefield 6 has lost 85% of its users on Steam since its release. The shooter peaked at more than 747,000 concurrent users on October 10, but its most recent peak was just 113,000. ARC Raiders, on the other hand, has held steady. Embark’s new extraction shooter climbed to more than 481,000 concurrent users on November 16, and recently peaked at 439,000 players on the platform, meaning it appears to have maintained 91% of its playerbase. Of course, these numbers don’t take into account consoles, so it’s perfectly plausible that Battlefield 6 could be thrashing ARC Raiders on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

There’s no one reason why ARC Raiders has proved so popular with gamers, but its casual approach to the extraction shooter genre and continued content updates are likely two of the biggest factors. Embark has said it intends to support ARC Raiders for ten years, and the studio has already started the game’s life cycle strong with two significant updates over the last few months. The first, which was known as North Line, brought Stella Montis to the game. This small-scale, close-quarters map has become the go-to spot for those looking for PvP, but players must still be on the lookout for ARC, as the Shredder is one of the game’s most deadly enemies. The highly anticipated Cold Snap update was then released in December, bringing a new Map Condition, Event, Quests, Raider Deck, and more to the title.

With 2026 officially upon us, ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 fans can likely expect a jam-packed year of content. Embark has yet to reveal what it has in store for players over the next 12 months, but DICE has already given fans a sneak peek of what to expect from Battlefield 6 in 2026. According to the studio, it is already “deep into planning what’s next” and will continue to refine core gameplay, balance, and quality-of-life improvements across Multiplayer, REDSEC, and Portal. New maps, weapons, seasons, and more are also in the works, as well as plans for a Solos experience in REDSEC.