When ARC Raiders launched in 2025, it did not whisper its arrival. It kicked the extraction shooter genre wide open.
Developed by Embark Studios, the team behind The Finals, ARC Raiders delivered something many fans felt the genre needed. Real tension. Meaningful progression. And a world that actually feels dangerous.
The formula is simple on paper. Drop in solo or with a squad of up to three. Scavenge gear and materials. Survive hostile machines and rival players. Then extract alive. Miss that last step, and you lose everything.
What surprised many players was how well it worked.
Since its October 2025 release, ARC Raiders has maintained strong community momentum. The game currently holds a 7.8 user score on Metacritic and a “Very Positive” rating on Steam, with players praising its gameplay loop, risk-versus-reward balance, and steady updates.
That consistency paid off when ARC Raiders won Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards in December 2025.
Not bad for a game that insists on doing things its own way.
Why ARC Raiders Is Locked to Third-Person
ARC Raiders describes itself as an extraction adventure built specifically for third-person play. That choice affects everything.
Third-person gives players stronger situational awareness. It allows them to read enemy movement, track flanking threats, and navigate massive maps filled with hostile machines. In a PvPvE game, that extra vision matters.
Embark Studios has been clear. The game was designed around this camera angle. No official first-person mode exists, and none has been announced.
Still, that did not stop players from asking a simple question.
What if ARC Raiders worked in first person?
A Reddit Discovery Sparks a New Conversation
In late 2025, a user known as u/Short_Satisfaction_9 shared a short gameplay clip on Reddit that caught the community’s attention. The video showed ARC Raiders running entirely in first-person view.
The reaction was immediate.
The player made it clear they were not criticizing the game’s design.
“I don’t think ARC Raiders needs first person at all,” they wrote. “I love this game and actually enjoy third person. But experiencing it in first person was surreal. The ARC felt terrifying.”
That single word came up again and again in the comments.
Terrifying.
Players described seeing the environment up close, hearing machines approach without the safety of a wide camera angle, and feeling far more exposed. The extraction tension increased fast.
How the First-Person View Worked
The first-person perspective did not come from an official feature or hidden menu.
Instead, the player used in-game console commands. Many PC players already used these commands to adjust fog or tweak brightness settings. This user pushed further.
The commands shared were:
Camera FirstPerson
fov 45
r.SetNearClipPlane 28The result looked rough in places. Arms disappeared. Character models clipped through the camera. Occasionally, parts of the player’s body flashed into view.
Even so, the game remained playable.
And more importantly, it felt different.
Immersion Versus Advantage
Not everyone loved the idea.
Several players pointed out obvious drawbacks. ARC Raiders features large, open environments with threats attacking from every direction. Losing third-person visibility creates a serious disadvantage.
One Reddit user summed it up cleanly.
“I’d love to see it, but it should be separate lobbies.”
Another agreed, noting that while first person feels intense, it would split matchmaking pools and introduce balance problems.
That balance concern sits at the heart of the debate. Third-person offers tactical awareness. First-person offers immersion. Mixing both in the same lobby would not be fair.
Embark Responds With a Hotfix
The experiment did not last long.
Shortly after the video spread, Embark Studios released a hotfix that blocked access to the relevant console commands. The first-person workaround no longer functions in the live build.
Embark did not frame the change as a punishment. Instead, it aligned with their long-standing position. ARC Raiders is designed for third-person play, and unintended camera access created technical and competitive risks.
For now, the door is closed.
Could an Official First-Person Mode Ever Happen?
Embark Studios has not announced plans for an official first-person mode. Based on public statements, the studio sees third-person as core to ARC Raiders’ identity.
From a development standpoint, adding first-person support would require significant work. Animations, weapon handling, environment scaling, UI elements, and balance would all need adjustment. For a mode many players might never use, that cost is high.
Still, the community response showed something important.
Players are curious. They want options. And they want immersion, even if it comes with trade-offs.
Some fans have even floated ideas like optional realism modes or separate playlists. Others prefer the game remain exactly as it is.
Right now, Embark seems to agree with the latter.
The Takeaway
ARC Raiders does not need a first-person mode to succeed. The game already delivers tension, atmosphere, and meaningful stakes through its third-person design.
But the brief glimpse into a first-person perspective proved one thing. The world of ARC Raiders is strong enough to feel terrifying from any angle.
Whether Embark ever revisits the idea remains unknown. For now, the experiment stands as a reminder of how passionate this community has become, and how deeply players connect with the game’s world.
Sometimes, even a short, imperfect experiment can spark a conversation worth having.
