ARC Raiders used a huge amount of data per day to track player behavior

During the Nexon Developers Conference, Embark Studios dives into the player tracking system it uses ARC Raidershow it affects the changes and how much data was needed to run it at the top of the game. for a while ARC Raiders was the definitive extraction shooter for many, finding a way to bridge the gap between hardcore fans while providing an entry point for those who wanted to see what the genre was all about.

After launch on October 30, 2025 ARC Raiders became an instant hit and paved the way for a genre that many believed was too ruthless and difficult to become mainstream. While the ride hasn't always been smooth, Embark has been able to sustain this success for a long time, thanks in large part to quick updates and a monthly cadence of releasing new content for players to dig into. This was in part thanks to a tracking system that allowed Embark to see how players were interacting with the game, both well and poorly, and made changes based on the data.

ARC Raiders are taking “strict action” against item duplication users

Following the release of the latest update for ARC Raiders, Embark Studios reveals plans to crack down on players who abuse some glitches.

ARC Raiders reveals new player tracking details

To keep up with a large player base, Embark built and leveraged a massive data pipeline called BigQuery, which allowed the studio to track all sorts of information at a very detailed level. In fact, during its peak, Embark consumed approximately 30 terabytes of data per day when ARC Raiders was at its peak in popularity, especially when the game received monthly updates from October 2025 to February 2026. Developers could track over 100 billion events with less than 2 seconds of latency. According to data engineer Mattias Andersson, the tool allowed developers to run a query two seconds after the player fired a bullet to see if it hit or not.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover and scrape off as little of the foil as possible.

This tool could be used for a variety of purposes, including larger issues like cheating or bug tracking, but it could also be used to investigate player behavior. There has been much debate about how ARC Raiders match players in the round and part of that decision making came from the data the studio saw. They could tell which player shot first in each encounter, who suffered an injury and anything in between, but the system couldn't predict intent. Still, Embark has also developed a custom wheel viewer capable of replaying player actions and offering a heatmap that shows where players are moving, dying, and fighting the most. This data allows Embark to make changes or improvements based on what it sees.

Two characters in the forest in ARC Raiders.

Nowadays, Embark probably doesn't use as much data as ARC Raiders it doesn't attract the same level of players as it once did. Still, Embark has big plans for 2026 and hopes that once new content is released, players will come back to check out the massive update. The studio has since moved away from monthly updates and decided to release 2 major updates per year, bigger than anything added before. In October, Embark releases the Frozen Trail pro update ARC Raidersteasing the biggest map the game has ever seen, along with new enemies, loot and other big improvements.

Find the odd one before the timer reaches zero.

In addition to changing the in-game content release cadence, Embark continues to test and improve anti-cheat methods. Earlier, Embark confirmed the big change ARC Raiders” anti-cheat methods, and since the June 30 update, the studio has completed work on integrating Denuvo into the game. In fact, Denuvo Anti-Cheat is already a big part of the next Embark game, Finaland the studio promises to keep an eye on things to ensure the transition remains smooth.