6 December 2025

ARC Raiders Player Count is Down 36.8%

By newsgame

Mega-hit extraction shooter ARC Raiders is still one of the most popular games in the world, but its player count has taken a 36.8% hit since its launch at the end of October. ARC Raiders was a very long time coming, but it’s safe to say that the game was worth the wait. ARC Raiders debuted to mostly positive reviews from fans and critics alike, and has quickly become one of the year’s most popular games. By any metric, ARC Raiders has been a blow-away success.

ARC Raiders has blown up on streaming platforms like Twitch, and beyond that, it was the most-searched game on Google in 2025 despite the fact that it just released in October. That means ARC Raiders has beaten heavy hitters like GTA 6 and Battlefield 6 when it comes to Google searches, which is an impressive feat, to say the least. On top of all that, ARC Raiders has found itself nominated for Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2025, and is the favorite to win. But while ARC Raiders has been one of 2025’s biggest hits, it has still experienced a 36.8% concurrent player count drop from its peak on Steam.

arc-raiders-beat-battlefield-6-player-count-3

ARC Raiders Has Officially Beaten Battlefield 6

Embark’s hit new extraction shooter ARC Raiders continues to gain active players, and has now surpassed Battlefield 6 on one platform.

36.8% is not that significant of a drop in the world of gaming, and in fact, it is actually further evidence of ARC Raiders‘ popularity. Other games drop off far more significantly in the same timeframe, and so ARC Raiders is showing that it has potential to remain one of Steam’s top games for a long time. For those curious, ARC Raiders‘ peak concurrent player count was 481,966 players, its latest 24-hour peak was 304,424 players, and there are 239,198 online right now at the time of this writing.

ARC Raiders vs. Battlefield 6

The other big multiplayer game that released in October was EA’s Battlefield 6. Battlefield 6 is potentially going to end 2025 as the best-selling game of the year, but its player count has taken a much more significant hit than ARC Raiders. Battlefield 6 peaked at a much higher Steam concurrent player count of 747,440, but its latest 24-hour peak was 166,061, and there are 148,412 players on right now. This means that Battlefield 6 has effectively dropped by 77.8% since its launch. Granted, BF6 came out at the beginning of October while ARC Raiders came out at the end, so it’s had a little more time on the shelf, but that’s still quite the drop. It’s also impressive ARC Raiders is beating an established franchise by 90,786 current players on Steam.

Steam is not the only platform where ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 are available. The games are also available on other PC storefronts like the Epic Games Store, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Player count numbers for the console versions of the game are not available, so it’s entirely possible that BF6 has ARC Raiders beat in terms of overall player count numbers, but we don’t know for sure.

The player count numbers for ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 will likely continue to fluctuate as the weeks and months go on. One has to imagine that special events and big updates will see lapsed players return to both games, with ARC Raiders set to release its Cold Snap update this month along with new quests and more. Battlefield 6, meanwhile, will release its Winter Offensive update on December 9, complete with limited-time maps, a new weapon, bug fixes, and more. Between ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, multiplayer shooter fans have a lot to play right now, and it will be exciting to see what each game brings to the table in 2026.