[STEAM] ARC Raiders is right to focus on casual rather than professional players—even Ninja agrees

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Embark Studios is one of the most community-oriented development teams out there, focusing on what the general player base wants instead of only listening to so-called "authority" figures.

Streamer Ninja, who in some other live-service circles would be considered as one such figure, is now fully advocating for ARC Raiders' continued "casual" focus.

"Cater to the f**king casuals, pro play is secondary," Ninja said in a recent stream (

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). He highlighted how the game is primarily casual in nature, and stated that it's these players who are "spending money and playing the game," whereas pros are in the *********. He added that he formerly advocated for more focus on professional play, which he thought would lead to more balance overall, but has since changed his mind.

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I think ARC Raiders and any online shooter out there should genuinely always focus on the casual side of things. Professional play is entirely separate and exists on a plane far removed from the one everyone else is on. The builds are never the same, neither are the strats and tactics, and no matter how much casuals try to mimic pro players in casual environments, it'll never result in the same kind of gameplay.

These two categories are so separate that they should never mix, and some developers understand this well. Pros play on standalone servers, have tight-knit queues and environments to operate in, and are kept largely separated from casuals, who make up the vast majority of each game.

What's more, ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter, and its potential as a huge esport isn't so great. Sure, you can form a competitive scene around the game, but it's not a team-based title like Counter-Strike 2 or League of Legends, which serves to drive the "casual" point further. Casual play is at the very heart of the experience, and so it would make no sense as to why Embark should ever cater to this small ********* of so-called professionals.

A lot of voices are, unfortunately, advocating for the latter, but Embark has maintained good communication with the broader community so far, catering to its needs and woes, instead of ignoring them and only listening to a gatekept clique of streamers and pros.

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