After 100 Hours in ARC Raiders, I Still Haven’t Encountered One of Its Most ‘Common’ Annoyances

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I just hit 100 hours in ARC Raiders, if that’s not enough to prove that it’s one of my favorite games of 2025 — and I played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I know there are players out there who have already logged far more time in the game than I have, but for someone who wasn’t really a fan of extraction shooters before, 100 hours is a lot. I’ve gathered everything I need for my first Expedition in ARC Raiders, I’ve fully upgraded all of my Workshop stations, even Scrappy’s level is maxed out. Now, I’m focused on hunting down the blueprints I’m still missing, as well as stocking my stash with plenty of valuable items for my next Raider’s bonus skill points.

Again, I know I’m not the only ARC Raiders fan who has already logged 100 hours in the game, considering how popular it has been over the last few weeks. However, despite being among those who have spent a considerable amount of time playing the game, I’m still not in one of ARC Raiders‘ most “common” player groups. I keep reading comments online from other players griping about a particular problem that keeps happening to them, to the point that it has encouraged some of them to stop playing the game altogether. And yet, even after 100 hours in ARC Raiders, I have not encountered that issue a single time.

Yes, you read the header above correctly: after 100 hours in ARC Raiders, I have never encountered an extraction camper. It’s interesting, given how regular these occurrences seem to be — according to what I read online, anyway. It seems like almost anytime I read anything about ARC Raiders, there’s someone saying something about how they hate the game because of the extraction campers. Maybe I’m just lucky? Maybe it’s because I play ARC Raiders on PC and a recent test showed that’s where the friendlier players are? Or am I just playing a different game?

I know I’m being a bit cheeky, but I just can’t help myself. I also recognize that now that I’ve acknowledged the fact that I’ve never met an extraction camper, it’s probably going to happen. As a dad, I know the number one rule of nap time is you never acknowledge how long your kid has been asleep, because that’s when they wake up. Now, I’m sure the next time I attempt an extraction in ARC Raiders, some heartless player will be there waiting for me and all the loot I worked so hard to get during the round. But I welcome it with open arms, as I long to see firsthand what so many players have apparently had issues with.

Posts like this one from Reddit user TheExodius essentially describe extraction campers as the scum of the earth — the “bottom of the Arc Raiders society,” as they explicitly put it. I honestly couldn’t agree more, as campers of any kind in a multiplayer game are a special kind of nuisance. They freeze the flow of a match, interrupt momentum, and bank on someone else doing all the work before swooping in for an easy payoff. It’s cheap, it’s boring, and it never feels good to be on the receiving end of it. But this is ARC Raiders, and risk is the name of the game.

Players in other ARC Raiders forums describe extraction camping as a “big problem” and the reason they “hate this game,” like this thread on Overclockers. Then, I occasionally find other players saying that, like me, they have never encountered an extraction camper once in the game. In fact, one of the comments on the aforementioned Reddit thread said that very thing.

I feel for those players who have fallen victim to extraction campers. I really do. I just find it odd that I have yet to encounter one in all the rounds I’ve played. When I finally do meet my maker as the barrel of a skillless, soulless player’s gun stares directly into my spine while I attempt an extraction, surely I’ll feel everyone else’s pain then. In that moment, I’ll have true empathy for those who have succumbed to the problem in ARC Raiders, but for now, all I can have is sympathy.

Honestly, it could be that I play ARC Raiders almost exclusively solo, and that’s why I haven’t seen any extraction campers. I tried playing with a squad a few times when the game first came out, and I noticed it was a lot heavier on the PvP side and attracted more competitive players. However, when playing solo, I’ve found players to be more PvE oriented, and even when they might have shot me, I apparently seem friendly enough that they don’t want to. Or maybe I just look too threatening for some reason and they’d rather not risk it?

Whatever the case, that could very well be why extraction campers haven’t really been a thing for me in ARC Raiders. I’d say the closest thing I’ve encountered to an extraction camper is someone who decided to unload a magazine into me as the elevator doors were closing, but since I knew they wouldn’t have enough time to fully down me and take my loot, it didn’t bother me. Plus, they were friendly enough to wait until we started the extraction before firing at me, so it felt like it was all in good fun.

I’m not trying to say extraction campers don’t exist in ARC Raiders. More than anything, I’m just wondering why I haven’t experienced it when it seems so many others have. Sure, if it happened to me once, it would be frustrating, but not enough to make me hate the game. Even if it happened to me 5 or 10 times in all the rounds I’ve played, it would be aggravating. But would I stop playing ARC Raiders? Absolutely not. If it was clearly an overwhelming problem in the community, I might reconsider my stance. But for now, I’ll keep going Topside.

Released

October 30, 2025

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood