An ARC Raiders player who was seemingly immersed in their Topside antics, frantically screaming for help over their headset, had a rather loud surprise when a neighbour mistook the cries for genuine distress and began kicking down their front door. The issue was thankfully resolved and laughed about, but as ARC Raiders continues to sweep the gaming world, it's no surprise that some players are taking their raids a little too seriously and forgetting that their frenzied screams can be heard by real-life people, not just fellow raiders.

Despite launching smack bang in the middle of Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, ARC Raiders has managed to find huge success over the last few months. Many believed its release window, which was between two of the biggest first-person shooters of the year, meant that ARC Raiders would barely make a peep when it launched on October 30. That theory was quickly proven to be incorrect, as the new extraction shooter soared to more than 481,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. Recent data estimates from Alinea Analytics suggest ARC Raiders has now sold more than 12 million copies across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and achieved more than 3.2 million daily active users on January 4. For comparison, Battlefield 6, which EA says was the best-selling shooter of 2025, lost 85% of its active player base on Steam, while ARC Raiders maintained 91%.

arc raiders ai controversy embark ceo response
"It Can Be a Tremendous Benefit to Players" ARC Raiders Boss Defends Controversial AI Usage

Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund defends the use of AI in ARC Raiders and urges players to "step back" and understand how it can help developers.

2

There are, of course, a multitude of different reasons for ARC Raiders' unexpected success, such as the casual approach it has taken to the extraction shooter genre or the epic ARC battles that take place every single match. But any dedicated ARC Raiders player will also tell you that a key part of its entertainment comes from the interactions that happen between strangers. From being "ratted" by an individual you thought you could trust to making friends with others to take down the likes of the Queen or Matriarch, every raid offers a completely different experience that has kept fans coming back for more and more every single day. A steady stream of new content updates for ARC Raiders has also helped the title stay in the spotlight, with new maps, ARC types, bug fixes, and more.

ARC Raiders Player Screams for Help and Is Met With Unexpected Surprise

With player interactions being a key part of ARC Raiders, talking (and sometimes screaming) down the mic is a common occurrence. However, one unfortunate player by the name of Dreamthorp, recently took their raid a little too seriously and began screaming for help, presumably to a teammate. This was then heard by a neighbour, who came over to do their own personal welfare check. When they knocked on the front door and heard more cries for help, they immediately sprang into action like any good samaritan would and began kicking the front door down. "For context, I was in a night raid on Dam trying to extract from an elevator when a Leaper landed on me and downed me right before the extract door shut. I just wanted to get stabilized so I could leave," the user said.

According to a follow-up from the poster, they left the neighbour a six-pack of beer for their troubles and discovered that he is a firefighter, so kicking the door down when somebody screams for help was his natural instinct.

Funnily enough, this isn't the first time such an incident has happened. Former FaZe member Nickmercs also recently went viral after screaming for help in ARC Raiders, only to have a concerned neighbour appear at their window and check to see if the streamer was in need of assistance. Thankfully, this interaction didn't end with Nick's door being kicked down, as he quickly explained that he was playing a video game before telling the neighbour he appreciated the check-in.

These interactions are likely to continue as Embark has big plans for the future of ARC Raiders, with plenty more content planned over the next 12 months. The first update of 2026 is expected to arrive this Tuesday, as the studio has already said it intends to nerf the Trigger Nade following its rise in popularity over the Christmas period. There likely won't be any new content in the update, but players can expect a new store rotation, bug fixes, and some fresh balance adjustments.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
ARC Raiders Tag Page Cover Art
Display card tags widget
Extraction
Shooter
Third-Person Shooter
Survival
Display card system widget
Systems
Display card community and brand rating widget Display card open critics widget
Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
Display card main info widget
Released
October 30, 2025
ESRB
Teen / Violence, Blood
Developer(s)
Embark Studios
Publisher(s)
Embark Studios
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start
ARC Raiders release window announced with launch plans
Display card media widget end

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Genre(s)
Extraction, Shooter, Third-Person Shooter, Survival