Why this is surprising
Extraction shooters thrive on tension. You go in expecting the worst. Every corner might hide a human waiting to stab you. Every loot run might end in death and loss. That is the thrill. That’s the reason we queue up. But ARC Raiders flips the narrative. It gives you the tension, sure - but also the option of connection. Because of that proximity chat, that simple audible moment where a human voice says “friendly” changes everything.
I experienced it myself. I saw a guy coming, I shouted “Dude! Don't shoot, I'm just trying to extract!” and the other player echoed “OK! You think you can help me find a battery?” We ran together. We fought robots. We found the battery, We extracted. And I logged off thinking: this is wild. I just played a shoot-em-up but chose not to kill.
Why I think this matters
Here’s the geeky part where I lean back and sip my coffee. What this suggests is that even in competitive, high-stakes spaces we can build something different. We don’t have to assume hostility. We don’t have to betray on sight. The designers didn’t force peace. They didn’t turn the game into some squeaky clean co-op romp - no. They kept the guns, the stakes, the other players who will shoot you. But they added choice.
That's it - Just the choice to not engage.
In the solo mode I played this weekend, that choice is used a lot. In squad mode? Not so much. Squads still race to kill. But in solo? People are more cautious. More curious. More… human. I don’t know if it’s fear of losing loot, or fear of being alone, or just the weird spontaneous joy of meeting someone else among the chaos - but it gives me hope. Real hope.
Sure, but there’s the other side
Let’s not pretend it’s all sunshine and kumbaya. The moment you queue with a squad you might as well assume the other team is gunning for you. And yes, sometimes you announce “Friendly” and the next second you’re face-down in the dirt. Solo is easier to trust than complex group dynamics.
I should also mention: the numbers are huge. The game hit hundreds of thousands of concurrent players on Steam on day one. Servers even buckled under the weight of players. That scale makes the friendly moments even more remarkable because these are random strangers in a massive crowd choosing to pair up instead of frag each other.
Why I’m excited
Because if even a slice of this behavior carries over into other games, other spaces, maybe even real life - well that’s worth paying attention to. It’s still a game. But it’s a game that contains a lesson. A message. The option to cooperate is given and people are taking it.
And if humanity ever actually faces machine overlords (yes I said it), maybe this is flavor of how we’ll respond. Not by shooting each other first, but by talking, coordinating, surviving together.
Ridiculous? Sure. But also kind of wonderful.
