Arc Raiders is not just having a good run anymore. According to Nexon’s March financial statement, Embark Studios’ shooter has now sold 15.5 million copies across PC, PlayStation and Xbox since launching in October 2025.
That is a huge number for any modern multiplayer shooter, but the more interesting part is how fast the momentum is still moving. Nexon says Arc Raiders sold 4.6 million units in Q1 2026 alone, which means the game is not surviving purely on launch hype. Players are still buying in months later, and that is usually the harder part for live-service games.
For context, Arc Raiders already looked massive on Steam. The game crossed over 480,000 peak concurrent players shortly after release, then climbed back to similar highs in January 2026. A lot of shooters explode at launch and then quietly disappear from the squad’s Discord rotation. Arc Raiders seems to be avoiding that problem for now.
Nexon also called Arc Raiders the most successful game in the company’s history. That is not a small statement when you remember Nexon has been around for ages and has a long list of online games under its belt.
Players are actually staying, not just sampling
The sales figure is impressive, but the retention numbers are arguably more important. Nexon says players have spent a combined 1.5 billion hours in Arc Raiders, with an average of around 100 hours per player.
That average matters because it suggests the game has moved beyond curiosity purchases. People are grinding, returning, and treating Arc Raiders like a proper main game. For Malaysian and SEA players, this is the kind of signal that affects whether a multiplayer title is worth committing to. Nobody wants to convince the whole squad to buy into a shooter only for matchmaking to feel empty two months later.
It also helps that Arc Raiders is available across PC, PlayStation and Xbox. In Malaysia, the shooter crowd is split between Steam players, console players, and the occasional cyber cafe kaki who still lives on keyboard and mouse. A strong cross-platform player base gives games like this a better chance of staying active across different friend groups.
China could push Arc Raiders even bigger
Nexon also confirmed that Arc Raiders has secured licensing in China, with multiple beta tests planned in 2026. If that rollout lands well, the game’s player base could grow significantly again.
For SEA, that could be a double-edged thing. Bigger regional interest usually means more content, more esports attention, more creators covering the game, and a healthier long-term pipeline. But it also raises the pressure on servers, matchmaking quality, and balance updates. If Arc Raiders wants to stay sticky in Asia, it cannot just be big; it has to feel good to play consistently.
The next big hook is Frozen Trail
Nexon’s next push will be the October Frozen Trail update, which is planned to bring both free and premium content. The goal is pretty clear: bring in new players while tempting lapsed players to come back.
That is the live-service cycle in 2026, bro. Big launch, retention battle, major seasonal update, repeat. The difference here is that Arc Raiders has the numbers to make the cycle feel alive rather than desperate.
Embark’s other shooter, The Finals, also saw strong growth in Q1 2026, though Nexon did not share exact sales numbers for that game. Still, it suggests Embark is having a seriously strong year in the shooter space.
For now, Arc Raiders has gone from promising extraction-style shooter to one of the biggest multiplayer stories of the year. If Frozen Trail delivers, this one could stay in the rotation for a long time.
Source: TechPowerUp