19 November 2025

If ARCs Hunt Humans, Why Don’t They Hear You Yell? Breaking Down the AI Logic in ARC Raiders

By newsgame

ARC Raiders isn’t for the faint of heart, and not just due to the other players wandering each map looking to spill the blood of another Raider and loot their belongings before extracting to Speranza. The true enemies of ARC Raiders‘ post-apocalyptic world are the ARC — lethal machines, each with their own strengths and tactics, that rule the surface with a steel fist. These machines are so deadly that any humans caught unaware can earn a fast track to their demise, urging each Raider to tread carefully when Topside, so as not to alert the ARC to their presence.

However, this can be difficult to do, especially when players aren’t using both their eyes and ears to pay close attention to their surroundings. The chirp of a nearby Wasp or the low hum of an approaching Rocketeer should lead players to turn their eyes and iron sights toward the skies, but sometimes the ARC can get the jump on Raiders using their own sensory patterns. ARC Raiders‘ Snitches with their wide-ranging scanners, Wasps with their rapidly shifting patrol patterns, and Pops that seemingly roll in from out of nowhere when a metal detector goes off. Yet, despite how often they can detect players in a variety of scenarios, they still can’t hear the humans behind the Raiders, nor the voices of the Raiders’ themselves.

Why ARC Raiders’ Enemy AI Can’t Hear Players When They Talk

ARC Raiders‘ proximity chat is a highlight of the whole experience because it gives players an opportunity to have genuine interactions in a world that is simultaneously trying to tear them apart. When players are within the vicinity of one another, they can hear the other talk, so long as their mic is on. Sometimes, this results in friendly greetings or unexpected partnerships, but other times, it might just be enough for one player to give away their position to another, only to have the other player attack them. It heightens the iconic tension of ARC Raiders while also making the world feel like it’s actually filled with people fighting for their own survival.

Even though players can hear each other speaking, however, the ARC cannot. Despite humans being their primary target, the ARC can’t hear actual humans when they talk. Even when players use emotes in ARC Raiders, like “Don’t shoot!”, the ARC can’t hear the Raider’s voice either. This doesn’t mean the ARC are entirely unaffected by sound, though. As mentioned earlier, running through a nearby active metal detector can alert the ARC to the player’s presence, and so can motion detectors, gunfire, and even the player’s footsteps if they’re close enough. So, why can’t they hear the player (or their character) yell?

Three Reasons Why the ARC Can’t Hear Players Talk

It could make the PvE in ARC Raiders too threatening.
It might discourage communication between players.
It could make the game feel unfair and inconsistent.

The AI in ARC Raiders is actually very smart, but game design like this almost always comes with tradeoffs. Firstly, the ARC exist primarily to put PvE pressure on players as they search for valuable materials rather than to simulate realistic sensory responses. In fact, if the machines reacted to every single noise they heard in the game, it might be too much pressure, considering the ongoing threat of PvP in ARC Raiders alongside the ARC.

Secondly, if the ARC could hear players talk through their mics or hear their Raiders emoting to another player, it would discourage communication between players and likely lead to a more competitive, less friendly community. While some players have reported encountering plenty of unfriendly players in ARC Raiders, the consensus still seems to be that its players (especially those in solo rounds) are friendlier than they are in many other games with PvP elements.

Thirdly, extraction shooters like ARC Raiders often trade full realism for clarity. Essentially, players need to understand when and why they’ve been detected. If the ARC heard players talking in ARC Raiders, it might feel more unpredictable, and perhaps even unfair. Plus, it would take some incredibly smart AI to discern when a player is hitting a detectable volume, and even then, given how every player’s chat preferences differ, that could be tough to keep consistent.

ARC Raiders’ Enemy AI Relies on Scripted Noises and Visual Cues

Instead, the ARC in ARC Raiders rely more on scripted noises and visual cues for detection — like the sound of gunfire, a nearby machine in distress, a Raider sprinting in front of them, or even a bullet flying past their rotors. These are all things that are expected to happen in ARC Raiders, and such clear expectations help the developers maintain consistency and the player’s sense that the game is treating them fairly.

In the end, it’s not just about resource overhead in game development but about crafting an experience that players feel they can actually master. Sure, it would be neat if ARC Raiders‘ proximity chat also applied to the machines, but it’s likely that fun wouldn’t last long. As things stand, ARC Raiders‘ enemy AI is arguably right where it needs to be.