Arc Raiders and Marathon Are Both Going PvE. Are Extraction Shooters Dead?

What happens when the genre built on “trust no one” discovers that a big chunk of its players just want to loot in peace?

We’re about to find out, twice. Within the same week, Embark Studios and Bungie each revealed how they plan to give their extraction shooters a PvE option, and the two approaches could hardly be more different. One is a cautious, one-week experiment. The other is a permanent mode headed for a December launch. Together, they say a lot about where the genre is heading.

The Short Version

• Arc Raiders will run a PvE matchmaking toggle test from October 13-20, 2026. Player-versus-player damage is switched off, and Embark says outright that the test is not a promise of a permanent mode.
• Marathon gets its first permanent PvE mode with the Symbiosis update on December 8, followed by a bigger connected-modes overhaul planned for March 2027.
• Both studios cite the same problem: too many players who love the setting, the loot loop and the machines-and-monsters fights, but not being hunted by other players.

Arc Raiders: A Toggle, Not a Rewrite

Embark laid out the plan on the official Arc Raiders site, and the tone is refreshingly candid. The studio’s own player data splits the community like this: 37% friendly co-op players, 27% mixed players and 34% pure PvP players. The friendly group has grown steadily since launch, while the PvP group has held flat. Embark also reports that over 70% of friendly players and even 40% of PvP players want fewer hostile encounters, and 51% of surveyed players are interested in a dedicated PvE option.

Here’s how the test will work:

• Zero player-to-player damage. Raiders still see each other and can team up against ARC machines, but nobody can shoot anybody else.
• Solos, duos and trios share sessions. With no PvP threat, group size stops being an advantage.
• Seamless switching. Play a relaxed solo run, then flip back to classic PvPvE for a high-tension match.
• Lower loot value in PvE. Embark is compensating for the added safety, and is bumping baseline loot in PvPvE sessions slightly to keep the economy balanced.
• Some conditions are excluded. Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate stay out of PvE because they depend on the uncertainty of meeting other players.
• Matchmaking rating is untouched. Your PvPvE rating won’t change based on what you do in PvE.
• A small tension-preserving trick. If ARC machines down you, crawling can make them re-acquire you as a target. Stay still and they’ll ignore you.

Embark is also explicit about what this is not. The studio says the goal isn’t tougher PvE or new PvE progression, but “an alternative to PvP encounters.” It also warns the test could reduce the tension the game was built around, and that the toggle will be removed when the week ends. That honesty is worth noting: the game was originally conceived as a PvE co-op project before it pivoted to extraction, so Embark is stepping back toward its own roots with clear eyes.

The test lands right after the Frozen Trail update on October 8, which matters for context. Arc Raiders is also moving to a slower, bi-annual cadence for major updates, so this is a big week for the game.

Marathon: A Full Commitment

Bungie’s Future of Marathon blog is far bolder. Marathon launched in March 2026 as what Bungie itself calls a “cutthroat, winner-takes-all PvEvP experience,” and now the studio wants to build “a connected set of survival experiences” around it.

The roadmap looks like this:

• October: Nightfall Refresh. A focused update to progression, rewards and the live experience.
• December 8: Symbiosis. The first permanent PvE mode, an experimental Team Deathmatch mode, an expanded Perimeter zone headlined by the Tick Queen boss, a new melee-focused shell called Bishop, better onboarding, and a social space with a firing range.
• March 2027: the big one. Connected PvE, PvP and PvEvP experiences, a refactored Cradle, deeper shell progression, more narrative, new enemies and a brand-new zone.

Bungie’s pitch is about flexibility: some players want a quick, lower-pressure run after work, others want a whole night with their crew. Bungie has also been testing the waters all year, with Sponsored Survival in Season 2 and an experimental PvE mode called Vault Breaker. The studio has also stepped away from strict seasonal releases, pushing content once planned for September into Symbiosis. Importantly, Bungie says PvEvP will remain “an important part of Marathon.”

Two Studios, Two Philosophies

The contrast is the story here.

Embark subtracts. Same maps, same rules, same economy, with the human threat removed and loot trimmed to compensate. It’s a low-cost experiment designed to answer one question: will players actually use this, and what does it do to the game around it?

Bungie adds. Symbiosis is described as a separate experience with its own identity, and the studio is rebuilding the game’s structure around multiple modes rather than one. According to Forbes contributor Paul Tassi, Marathon is in the shakier position, with Arc Raiders having lost a large share of its launch playerbase by some metrics, and both games facing pushback from existing fans who worry about diluting the original vision.

That difference in risk tolerance mirrors their situations. Arc Raiders has a large, established audience it can afford to poll and test with. Marathon is trying to widen a much smaller one.

What This Says About Extraction Shooters

1. The loop is more popular than the betrayal. Scavenging, boss fights against enormous machines and the nail-biting walk to the exit are what many players came for. The “will someone shoot me in the back?” part is a spice, not the whole meal. Embark’s data suggests a lot of the audience treats it as optional, and Bungie’s “I wish Marathon just had PvE” feedback points the same way.

2. Tension is load-bearing, and everybody knows it. Both studios are nervous about the same thing: pull out the PvP threat and you may pull out the reason the extraction moment feels so good. Embark’s workaround is tiny tricks like ARC machines re-targeting crawling players. Bungie’s is keeping PvEvP as one option among several rather than replacing it.

3. One mode no longer fits one game. Live-service shooters are drifting toward hubs with multiple ways to play. That echoes how survival games like Valheim built loyal communities around friendly, cooperative play, and it’s a reminder that the “mainstream Tarkov” pitch may be harder to land than it looked. Escape from Tarkov itself already has a PvE mode, and Gray Zone Warfare is built around PvE, so the demand isn’t new. What’s new is big-budget studios responding to it.

4. Post-launch pivots are now part of the playbook. Studios that listen, test and adjust can recover ground, as we covered in No Man’s Sky’s ten-year climb from launch disaster to redemption. The risk is that players who love the original design feel left behind, and both communities are already voicing that worry.

The Risks Worth Watching

PROS

• Widens the audience to players who avoid PvP entirely
• Gives newcomers a gentler on-ramp to a notoriously intimidating genre
• Reduces friction from ratting and camping, which Embark says frustrates some players
• Lets studios collect real usage data before committing

CONS

• Could dilute the tension that defines the genre
• Splits matchmaking pools, which may lengthen queues in low-population regions
• Risks distorting in-game economies (Embark notes friendly players already extract more value)
• Long-time fans may feel their game is being redesigned around someone else

What Happens Next

For Arc Raiders, the key date is the end of the October 13-20 test. Embark says it will share findings sometime afterward, and that any future version “could look very different” from the beta. For Marathon, Symbiosis on December 8 is the moment of truth, with Bungie promising a deeper look at the PvE mode before launch.

If both experiments land, expect other extraction shooters to follow with their own lower-stakes lanes. If they stumble, it’ll suggest the genre’s tension can’t be diluted without losing its identity. Either way, the era of extraction shooters as pure PvP proving grounds looks like it’s winding down.

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