Embark removed auction-house trade system from Arc Raiders over loot concerns

According to Gamesradar, Embark Studios removed an auction house–style trading system from Arc Raiders after designers found it undermined the game's item-driven progression.

Design lead Virgil Watkins said the team "partially built" a more robust trade system but judged a traditional auction house to be "very risky territory." Watkins warned it could weaken "one of the core game loops" by turning play into a focus on extracting and selling high-value items for coins rather than hunting specific resources across maps. He added the system "ended up doing is it turned the game into just being about coins."

CEO Patrick Söderlund has said the studio still sees potential in player trading and wants to explore it long term, but "we haven't decided on anything yet," and Embark is cautious about any feature that would undermine item-driven exploration. The studio says it aims to make trading a more fun and social part of the game without sacrificing core loops.

Key Topics

Culture, Embark Studios, Arc Raiders, Virgil Watkins, Patrick Söderlund, Auction House