ARC Raiders’ Marketplace is Too Familiar
ARC Raiders, developed by Embark Studios, has garnered praise for its gameplay and atmosphere since its release, but one of the most frequently asked questions among players has been about its in-game trading system. Especially in comparisons to the genre giant Escape from Tarkov, ARC Raiders’ market structure, which feels “too familiar but incomplete,” is often discussed. While it’s possible to shop through NPC vendors, direct player-to-player trading is absent.
Why Doesn’t ARC Raiders Allow Player-to-Player Trading?
In ARC Raiders, players can buy weapons, explosives, healing items, and crafting materials from vendors in Speranza, but the system has very clear limits. The development team has specifically closed the door to players buying and selling items through auctions or a market-like structure. This decision is rooted in the game’s core philosophy.
As Virgil Watkins from the design team explained, Embark Studios actually seriously considered an auction system during development. However, when this system was tested, it was realized that the game’s focus shifted away from exploration and looting and towards a purely “money-saving” cycle. In other words, the excitement of finding a rare item lost its meaning when it could be purchased with a single click from the market.
At this point, ARC Raiders prioritizes loot-based satisfaction. The goal is for each raid to be unique, each chest to contain surprises, and for the player to truly connect with the items they find. Open market systems can weaken this feeling and diminish the importance of crafting and workshop use. In contrast, in ARC Raiders, crafting and development are positioned as one of the game’s backbones.
In comparison, Battlestate Games has been struggling to balance the Flea Market in Escape from Tarkov for years. In fact, in recent major updates, they’ve made the system more controlled by linking the trading of certain items to level caps. In the case of ARC Raiders, the decision not to take this path at all stands out as a conscious choice to both protect the game’s economy and stay away from risky areas like trading with real money.
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