ARC Raiders Boss Defends Controversial AI Usage

Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund has once again defended the use of AI within the studio’s smash-hit extraction shooter, ARC Raiders. During a new interview, the executive explained how Embark didn’t avoid hiring artists for ARC Raiders in order to replace them with AI, and urged fans to “take a step back” and understand how the use of AI can actually assist in the development of a game and be a “tremendous benefit to players.”

The controversial use of AI within ARC Raiders hasn’t stopped Embark’s second title from being a breakout hit in 2025. The extraction shooter took the gaming world by storm when it was released in October, peaking at more than 481,000 concurrent players on Steam, receiving rave reviews from both players and critics, and even maintaining 91% of its playerbase into 2026. While many believed ARC Raiders was destined to fail due to its release date being sandwiched between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, neither of the two powerhouses appears to have fazed Embark. While ARC Raiders has held on to much of its playerbase, the same cannot be said for Battlefield 6, which has lost 85% of its active users in just three months.

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Despite the massive success, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the shooter. Before it was even released, ARC Raiders sparked controversy over its AI usage, with fans blasting Embark for implementing a text-to-speech system in certain sections of the game. To be more specific, Embark has trained an AI system to replicate dialogue from real voice actors. These actors have reportedly given their full consent and been paid for their voices to be used by the system, but not everybody was thrilled about this decision. Of course, by using a text-to-speech AI feature, Embark is able to produce content much quicker than if it needed to schedule recording sessions with the actors. However, there’s a clear distinction between a human voice powered by emotion and an AI system simply regurgitating written lines.

Embark CEO Defends Use of AI in ARC Raiders

During a recent interview with GamesBeat, Embark CEO Patrick Söderlund defended Embark’s use of AI in ARC Raiders, which it also used in its first title, The Finals. “We don’t use AI to not have to hire people or replace people or job groups or voice actors,” Söderlund told the outlet. “People have to take a step back and understand what it is and how it can be a big help to developers and be a tremendous benefit to players. I realize it is an intricate subject and discussion.”

This isn’t the first time that ARC Raiders‘ AI usage has been discussed in the industry, as Arrowhead Game Studios CEO, Shams Jorjani, also weighed in on the controversy late last year. The Helldivers 2 developer believes it boils down to two different ways of thinking. While on one hand, companies such as Square Enix are planning on automating 70% of its quality assurance testing, the other has “developers who feel that their livelihood…the very fabric of their being is being threatened, and therefore all AI is bad AI.” While many are firmly against the use of AI in video games, and various other media, Embark has paid the actors for the use their voices, something Jorjani believes is important. “Let’s just make sure that people are paid for their work. Like, surely there’s a middle ground here, come on,” the CEO said.

Hate it, love it, or have no opinion on it, there’s no denying that AI is here to stay and is going to be a huge element of video game development moving forward. While ARC Raiders‘ use of generative AI is relatively small, it isn’t the only studio employing such systems. Call of Duty publisher Activision was recently forced to respond to AI accusations for Black Ops 7, the newest entry in the series. After fans noticed that certain in-game artwork appeared to be AI-generated, the studio said it uses “a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible.”

Released

October 30, 2025

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood