Embark Studios Leader Outlines Arc Raiders Development Process and AI Adjustments

Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund disclosed that the Arc Raiders studio team replaced some AI-generated voice lines with real actor performances after the game launched on October 30 2025. The studio released the extraction shooter for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on that date.

Söderlund gave the details in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. The team brought new enemies, cosmetics, and locations in updates since launch. Söderlund stated the studio now uses fewer AI voice lines than at release. The studio re-recorded specific lines with human performers. The CEO noted a clear difference in output between the two methods.

A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is.

— Patrick Söderlund

The Arc Raiders studio treated AI primarily as a production tool for internal testing. The team tested fifteen different lines without recording sessions. The process helped decide what to record with actors. The studio does not believe in replacing humans with AI all the time. The Arc Raiders studio paid actors for all booth time. The studio continues to bring many of those actors back during updates. The studio paid select actors for licensing their voices through text-to-speech. Those licenses covered lines not essential to immersion. Most such lines involved the ping system audio. A lot of the voice lines in Arc Raiders came from human recordings. The actors received compensation for their work and time.

We pay our actors for all time spent with us in the booth and continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game.

— Patrick Söderlund

The publisher Nexon defended the initial AI use in November. Nexon told Game*Spark that players should assume every game company now uses AI. Fans criticized the AI voices for many in-game characters. The criticism formed one stain on the title's ascent. The Arc Raiders studio launched out of 2025 as a massive success for Embark. The title ranked as one of the breakout hits of the year. The review team awarded it a 9 out of 10. The review stated the game sets a new standard for extraction shooters. Exact copy sales in the first five months remain unclear. The title passed 12.4 million copies sold in January. It reached 14 million copies by February.

Tim Sweeney defends AI voice use in the debate about AI-Assisted Voice after the game's release, following Arc Raiders' smooth launch. Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney offered an optimistic view on AI in game development. Sweeney responded to criticism of the Arc Raiders studio's use of AI-generated voices. Sweeney described the technology as an expansion of creative possibilities rather than a threat to performers. Sweeney outlined a future with infinite context-sensitive personality-reflecting dialog based on and tuned by human voice actors. The Arc Raiders studio's disclosure of AI-assisted technology placed it back under the spotlight that followed The Finals in late 2023. The reaction stayed less volatile than during The Finals uproar. The conversation has far from cooled. The subject remains uncomfortable territory in an industry still sorting boundaries between technological efficiency and human craft.

Arc Raiders arrived with an early-morning thump. That sound traveled fast. Minutes after going live, the Embark Studios extraction shooter crossed the 100000 concurrent-player mark on Steam. The count continued climbing. The numbers defied the off-peak launch hour. The title immediately seized the top of the best-selling chart. At one point, shortly after release, the game stood at 103975 players. This occurred before breakfast even hit the table in much of the United States. The signal indicated interest formed long before the official launch date. The Arc Raiders studio achieved these figures on a reported 75 million dollar budget, including marketing. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter placed the budget in that region. The figure pales in comparison to similar titles. The Arc Raiders studio has sold over 14 million copies since the October 2025 release.

The Arc Raiders studio operates with around 360 staff members. Embark Studios was founded in 2018. CEO Patrick Söderlund and former DICE staff started the firm. Söderlund recently took the executive chairman position at parent company Nexon. Being AAA has nothing to do with how many people work at the studio. The ambition centers on producing quality and depth similar to other teams, but with fewer people. The Arc Raiders studio challenged conventional wisdom on blockbuster development. The team participated in the spiraling exercise of people cost and time early in their careers. Available tools, pipelines and technology, plus a different building structure, changed the approach. The studio hypothesized it could deliver faster and better than in previous lives. The team quickly realised it could compete in the AAA space with maybe a quarter of the budget.

The Arc Raiders studio applied efficiencies to landscape building. The old method required concept art turned into a 3D mesh, then populated with grass, trees, rocks, and buildings. Tasks like texturing lighting and object placement proved difficult. The studio removed much of that boring work. The team asked what other technology means existed. The studio considered topography from Google Maps. The studio used photogrammetry by taking photos of objects to create texture assets. The studio employed procedural generation and pipelines for realistic landscapes. Very little of the process involved AI. A lot involved reconfiguring old ways of working, old toolsets, old pipelines, and old engines. The studio said there must be a better way.

The Arc Raiders studio used AI for voice lines in both The Finals and Arc Raiders. Both titles attracted controversy over the approach. Concerns arose that the studio replaced real voice actors or avoided paying performers. Söderlund insisted this is not the case. The studio re-recorded some lines post-launch with real voices. The studio now has fewer AI voice lines than at release. The studio pays actors for booth time and brings many back. The studio pays for voice licensing on non-essential lines, mostly ping system audio.

We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices.

— Patrick Söderlund

The Arc Raiders studio portfolio includes free-to-play team shooter The Finals. The studio pivoted Arc Raiders from a co-op third-person shooter to an extraction shooter. The genre historically stayed niche with titles like Escape from Tarkov. The Arc Raiders studio took a page from Blizzard by making the niche genre mass-market. The team believed something exciting existed in extraction shooters. The studio felt the genre could become broader than just shooter. The studio viewed it as an extraction adventure. The Arc Raiders studio played a ton of extraction games after the pivot. The CEO got stuck in many of those games. The studio liked the high-stakes gameplay of going out finding something and deciding whether to bank it. The studio saw that the menu time in the first two hours did not suit mass-market. The studio believed it could make the genre more accessible. The studio believed it could help the genre grow if it did a good job.

The Arc Raiders studio noted Bungie released Marathon as another take on the extraction genre. Söderlund argued Marathon feels a bit more hardcore. The game appears more PvP prone. PvE does not feel like the focus. Söderlund liked that player actions link to progression. Söderlund liked many things the team did well. Söderlund noted the technical test last year drew heavy criticism. Söderlund said whether that criticism was accurate or fair he cannot tell. Söderlund observed the team turned a big problem around in a very short period. Söderlund gave credit to that team and the work done. Söderlund hopes they do well.

Earlier this month EA made layoffs at the four studios on Battlefield 6, including DICE Criterion Motive and Ripple Effect. The game sold seven million units in its first three days. It became the best-selling game of 2025 in the United States. Söderlund called the cuts obviously not good for developers or the publisher. Söderlund felt for the teams. Söderlund noted they did a really good job with Battlefield 6. Söderlund saw the project involved a lot of teams and people. Söderlund said they need to right-size for an efficient business. Sometimes tough decisions serve the people who remain. The industry saw a ton of layoffs in past years. The Arc Raiders studio tried to avoid them. The studio monitored the situation closely. The approach speaks to doing more with fewer people. The studio becomes less sensitive to those swings. Söderlund does not think the issue is EA-specific. The problem exists across the industry.

The steady increase in scope team sizes and budgets defined the AAA side for some time. Four big studios worked on Battlefield 6. That fact illustrates resources for a modern blockbuster. Söderlund knows a lot of people at EA. Those individuals invest time resources and energy to optimise development pipelines. The process takes time. A game like Battlefield sits on old legacy systems. Those systems cannot be replaced in 24 hours. Modernising a large company requires playing with what exists. It will take time for companies to become more efficient. Those companies do not love escalating development costs, tougher markets or laying people off.

The Arc Raiders studio completed its first seven-and-a-bit years. The five-year plan focuses on keeping The Finals and Arc Raiders in the market with solid, highly engaged player bases. The studio hopes to release two more games for a total of four. New projects are in development. The team feels excited about them. The projects remain early. The studio needs proper time before discussing them. The studio does not see a need to reach 600-to-800 people. That growth will not happen. The studio reminds itself of why it started and avoids spiraling out of control. The studio will probably add some people as needed. The studio tries to remain relatively sensible in headcount. The studio will not grow to thousands of people. That will not happen.

I see the studio paid actors for licensing their voices on select non-essential lines. The approach kept compensation in place across updates.

Read also, Arc Raiders reached nearly one million concurrent players on PC last month. This number does not account for the game's console player base. The title continues to grip its audience heading into 2026. I see the game’s success has been substantial since its launch late last year.