The stars aligned last week when I got to play the two biggest extraction shooters of 2025 on the same day: The Marathon alpha began at the same time that Embark held a press session for Arc Raiders. Going in, I was way more interested in Marathon. Not only is it an FPS (the superior camera angle to Arc Raiders' third-person), but I was sure that if anybody was going to get me jazzed about an extraction shooter that isn't Hunt: Showdown, it'd be Bungie.
Now that I've played four hours of both, I'm surprised to report that Arc Raiders is the extraction shooter I can't stop thinking about.
Arc Raiders' world, sounds, and legitimately scary robot roamers are making an excellent impression. Marathon, meanwhile, is kind of boring.
With the caveat that these playtests don't represent the full picture of either game, there are two things Arc Raiders is doing very well that Marathon currently sucks at: Progression and PvE.
Progression
Arc Raiders' loot lust, faction contracts, and inventory management build off genre champion Escape From Tarkov, but its smartest design choice, a persistent skill tree that I can progress even if I die during a run, is akin to Hunt's more forgiving permadeath.
Fighting Arc robots, snatching high-tier loot, and completing contracts contribute to skill points I can use to permanently boost my stamina, soften the sound of looting, or climb ladders more quickly. It's a pretty big tree of lasting upgrades, and they run parallel to a loot-driven progression track encompassing building new crafting stations, expanding the black market, and training a chicken that finds free scrap for you between raids.
It's exciting that we're finally getting a new extraction shooter that doesn't religiously adhere to Tarkov's all-or-nothing attitude around raids, and I'm impressed that Embark is the one doing it, considering it's already supporting its team-based FPS The Finals. Arc Raiders understands that when loot isn't the only thing that matters, you can still have a great time in an unsuccessful raid.
In the Marathon alpha, extracting loot is the only way to grow. Bungie also has a skill tree of sorts that lets me upgrade my loot speed, stamina, and healing during the current seasonal wipe, but upgrades are purchased, not earned. They cost a lot of money and rare resources, both of which I've had a miserable time holding on to while playing alone.
I've had one unfortunate raid after another, with most ending early by the hand of some guy with a sniper rifle or a squad of three bullying me on solo runs. Every time I've been smacked back to the lobby screen, having flushed hundreds of dollars of loot down the drain with nothing gained, I've wanted to close Marathon and be done with it.
Marathon's overreliance on loot is exacerbated by other annoying aspects of the alpha, like weirdly cramped maps, a hilariously small default backpack size that reliably fills up in the first compound I visit, and flaccid NPC encounters (more on that below).
PvE
The "Arc" in Arc Raiders refers to a legion of AI-controlled robots that roam around maps attacking anything that moves. They come in all shapes and sizes—spheres that roll around shooting flames, sniper turrets that survey tall buildings, little birds that snitch on you to bigger bots, and at least one gigantic crabby crawler ripped straight out of a Horizon game.
Arcs are a legitimate threat, but I love that they're designed to be avoided. They're on the hunt, but maps are spacious enough that I never felt forced to engage one. The Arc are more obstacle than adversary—a crucial distinction, because like Hunt, Arc Raiders is largely a stealth game where sound is half the battle. Every decision forced me to weigh the noise cost of prying open a loot cache, triggering a metal detector, sprinting down a hallway, or killing a bot for its useful innards. It's a game about keeping your head down, gun ready, and ears open.
Marathon is less nuanced. Loot is entirely centralized around a handful of huge compounds guarded by UESC robots. It's possible to avoid detection with one character's stealth ability, but if you want to fully explore a location, confrontations are inevitable.
Those bots are Marathon's glaring flaw. They're dangerous in the sense that they dish out a ton of damage, but they're about as interesting as paper targets at a gun range. I immediately recognized their aimless shuffle from Destiny's alien grunts—some have shields, some throw grenades, but they all just meander in a clump. I hoped for more from the studio that programmed Halo Elites to dive out of the way of grenades, flank players, and hijack vehicles 20 years ago.
Playing Marathon and Arc Raiders back-to-back illustrates the advantage of being hunted by monsters in extraction shooters, rather than fending off waves of soldiers. Monsters, or in this case the Arc, track, chase, and displace players trying to keep a low profile. Their movements and unique attack patterns add texture to PvP fights. Soldiers just dish out a lesser version of what players can do.
PvPvEvPvPvE
I didn't go into 2025 expecting to be invested in an Arc Raiders vs. Marathon faceoff, but the timing is impeccable. Both are running playtests at the same time—Marathon's alpha is live now and running until May 4, and Arc Raiders' Tech Test 2 begins April 30 and ends on, you guessed it, May 4. Both are releasing later this year, both are forgoing free-to-play, and both have a lot riding on them.
All eyes have been on Bungie as it takes a big swing on a new genre amidst Sony's shaken confidence in the team, but Arc Raiders is just as big of a gamble for Embark, the Sweden-based studio of Battlefield veterans. Embark's other game is a great FPS with a loyal community, but publisher Nexon isn't thrilled by its performance.
In an extremely volatile time for the industry, both studios need their extraction shooters to be a hit. I'm skeptical there's enough interest in the inherently un-casual genre to support them both.
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