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GamesRadar
GamesRadar
Technology
Anthony McGlynn

"What a ride": Arc Raiders just hit 12 million copies sold, analyst estimates, and set a new record for active players 2 months after launch

Arc Raiders trailer screenshot of a man's face in red lighting.

In a time when much of the games industry is struggling, Arc Raiders once again shows it's still entirely possible to attract a healthy audience. According to analysts, the multiplayer shooter has already surpassed 12 million copies sold, peaking at over 3 million daily active players.

This information comes from Rhys Elliot, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics. The outfit estimates that across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, Arc Raiders just crossed the 12 million copies mark, hitting the benchmark this past weekend.

What's more, the active player-count apparently peaked at around 3.2 million on January 4, 2026, again accounting for all available platforms. Those are some hefty numbers for a brand new IP in a difficult genre like the extraction shooter space, even with the caveat of former Battlefield devs being among the dev team.

So ARC Raiders passed 12M copies sold over the weekend (Alinea estimates). Yesterday was its biggest day ever by DAUs (3.2M).Daily copies sold started to stabilise by early Dec, but a well-timed 20% discount across all platforms – and the holiday boost – reversed that.What a ride.

— @superhys.bsky.social (@superhys.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-05T17:23:31.746Z

Elliot states that it looked like Arc Raiders might plateau in December. Since the game launched late October, this would've been a logical and perfectly acceptable place for sales to stall a little, as review buzz and initial hype wanes and other games take the spotlight.

But, as he points out, a holiday discount helped keep players dropping in. "What a ride," he opines.

It helps, too, that Embark launched a massive update, Cold Snap, that put a chill in the air over the festive season, demonstrating the kind of vibrancy people can expect if they choose to stick around. Arc Raiders is evolving at considerable pace.

The devs just confirmed "aggression-based matchmaking" is now well and truly happening, and the roadmap expands ever onward. Whatever's coming next for the human-versus-robots skirmish, there are going to be plenty of players around to check it out.

Arc Raiders legend dedicated to collecting rubber ducks has now amassed an army of 4,200 of them with no end in sight

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