Vaspaan Dastoor is an Editor for TheGamer. Previously worked at IGN India and constantly tries to get people to make time for an LOTR marathon. He can be found giving hot takes for cold responses at @DastoorVaspaan
Arc Raiders has arguably been the most popular multiplayer launch of 2025. It has managed to retain a vast majority of its player base, unlike bigger games like Battlefield 6. While Battlefield 6’s concurrent player count has been on a downward slope, Arc Raiders’ has been stable. However, the game’s biggest champion thinks that the game could go on to compete with and even beat bigger fish, like Fortnite.
Shroud has been a proponent of Embark’s extraction shooter since it launched, going as far as to say that The Game Awards 2025 were rigged since it didn’t get a GOTY nomination. It hasn’t all been rainbows and butterflies, though, as Shroud threatened to stop playing the game over all the rampant cheating.
Can Arc Raiders Go Toe-To-Toe With Fortnite?
In a recent stream, though, Shroud mentioned that he has some high hopes for Arc Raiders. “This game is definitely the biggest game since Fortnite for sure. The only other game I can think of along the way is maybe like Valorant and Apex [Legends]. But I think this game is bigger than both those games and will be bigger as time goes on,” he said (thanks Insider).
Unfortunately, it seems that not many people agree with Shroud’s prediction, including Arc Raiders fans themselves. Fortnite is arguably the biggest video game in the world right now. Apart from the massive player base, brand deals bring in a lot of money and new content is added at a blistering pace. To say that Arc Raiders, which only launched in October 2025, is bigger is quite a stretch.
Arc Raiders Sound Design is fantastic, and it’s a real shame it didn’t get a nod at this years Game Awards.
Embark has also previously stated that it will not be adding ‘goofy’ skins to Arc Raiders, like so many other multiplayer shooters. This means that it won’t be able to rake in the cash by sending Kim Kardashian to the surface to fight Arcs. While the game does feature a monetization system, it’s nowhere as robust as that of other shooters either.
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While we could possibly see Arc Raiders grow into a multiplayer juggernaut, it’s definitely wishful thinking on Shroud’s part to say that it’s even close to being as big as Fortnite.
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