The online shooter landscape is packed with tough competition, changing ways to play, and more and more players who need games to work with their busy lives.
For a while now, Delta Force has held a firm grip on the “sweaty,” ultra-competitive extraction shooter genre, but ARC Raiders is looking to change the game.
This article breaks down why ARC Raiders isn’t just another shooter, but could become the new favorite for the many gamers currently hooked on Delta Force.
What Are Extraction Shooters All About?
Extraction shooters became a hit by mixing high tension with big rewards. Delta Force is the poster child for the hardcore style, where a single mistake means you’re dead, the action is super fast, and having casual fun is often less important than grinding to be the best.
But a huge part of the gaming audience is made up of people who just want to jump online for a few hours after work with friends, without all the intense pressure.
ARC Raiders, which launches as a paid game on October 30th, is coming in with a completely different goal: to appeal to the masses.
It focuses not just on competition, but on fun, playing with others, and a sense of progress that feels rewarding.
ARC Raiders: Casual-Friendly Gameplay Mechanics
Slower Time-to-Kill (TTK): Unlike Delta Force—where a quarter-second distraction means instant death—ARC Raiders gives players room to breathe. Fights last longer and switching off doesn’t guarantee an immediate wipe, making it friendlier to those new to extraction shooters or those looking for a more fun-focused experience.
Third-Person Perspective: Emphasizing broader situational awareness, ARC Raiders offers a social experience. It’s less about sweaty tactics and more about sharing moments and strategies while exploring, looting, and fighting. For streamers, this means a game where audience engagement can flourish, not just the tension of clutch plays.
PvE and PvP: Mixed Experiences
ARC Raiders stands out by blending fights against robot enemies (PvE) with fights against other players (PvP). The maps are bigger, giving you more time to explore, gather loot, and just enjoy the world without constantly running into a bullet storm.
This mix of calm exploration and sudden chaos creates a unique rhythm that works for both competitive and casual players.
Matchmaking for Solo and Squads
Delta Force is known for being a brutal experience if you play by yourself. ARC Raiders is designed differently.
It tries to match solo players against other solo players. And even if you end up in a match against teams, the game’s design gives you tools to play it smart, using stealth and the environment to avoid unfair fights.
Why Delta Force Players Might Switch to ARC Raiders
1. The Casual Appeal
The gaming market is dominated by casual and social players—those who play for camaraderie, fun, and moments.
Delta Force’s punishing pace and competitive nature means it often fails to cater to this segment, leaving many players feeling excluded.
ARC Raiders, by slowing the game down and encouraging social play, fills a gap that Delta Force ignores. Most players prefer fun over grind, and ARC Raiders delivers exactly that.
2. Better Solo Experience
One major flaw of games like Delta Force is their poor support for solo players.
If you’re not running with a top-tier squad, you’re at an immediate disadvantage against organized teams. ARC Raiders takes this challenge head-on with improved matchmaking—pairing solo players with other solos wherever possible, or if needed, dropping you into lobbies with mixed team compositions while still allowing you to avoid direct PvP if you prefer.
I would like to describe this as how solo play felt more balanced in ARC Raiders compared to Delta Force, with plenty of ways to survive and thrive alone without being instantly overrun by squads.
3. Crossplay Without Issues
Console vs. PC? In many shooters, crossplay introduces unfair advantages, especially when it comes to mouse precision and controller limitations.
In Delta Force, console players typically avoid crossplay, fearing domination by PC users with lightning-fast reactions. ARC Raiders, however, seems to have solved the issue.
During the server slam, we played this game on Xbox with friends on PC, noting that he barely noticed the difference.
Combat felt fair, matchmaking remained even, and skill gaps weren’t exacerbated by input devices. This bodes well for building a unified community, rather than fragmenting the player base across platforms.
4. A Vibrant, Enjoyable World
ARC Raiders features visually and audibly stimulating environments worth exploring.
Unlike the drab “sprint-die-repeat” maps in many shooters, ARC Raiders offers looting, humor, and random encounters. This diversity is what keeps players coming back for more—and talking about their experiences online.
5. Cheat Reduction via Paid Entry
One unexpected benefit: ARC Raiders isn’t free. Paid titles tend to deter would-be cheaters—especially for PC play—since bans carry a financial penalty.
Delta Force, being free-to-play, struggles with cheating, particularly on PC. By charging for entry, ARC Raiders protects fair play, especially for the casual and social gamer demographic who hate losing to hackers.
6. Smart Design Choices: From Looting to Combat
ARC Raiders’ core gameplay loop is instantly engaging.
The world is teeming with AI threats—robotic enemies that leap, roll, and flail comically, offering both challenge and entertainment.
The looting and crafting system rewards exploration, giving players tangible incentives to roam the map, gather resources, and experiment with different strategies.
Combat isn’t just a test of twitch reflexes; it’s a test of teamwork, resourcefulness, and creativity. Whether you’re blocking enemy shots with oversized weapons, using proxy chat to distract bosses, or reloading after a dramatic battle, ARC Raiders makes these moments memorable rather than stressful.
The game offers heavy weapons, consumables, unique gadgets, and pink-tier loot like mixtape collectibles and homing missile grenades—each adding variety and replay value that many extraction shooters lack.
Revive System—A Mixed Bag
The one area ARC Raiders needs urgent refinement is its revive mechanic.
Currently, if a player is “flushed out,” they’re dead—permanently for that match. For a game championing accessibility and casual fun, this feels dated and contrary to ARC’s overall design philosophy.
Even PUBG has moved away from this “full dead” system, favoring mechanics that let teammates revive or rescue allies post-mortem.
ARC Raiders would do well to consider tweaks here, like long, risky revives or special items to bring teammates back, to prevent fun moments from turning sour.
A Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Delta Force | ARC Raiders |
|---|---|---|
| Pace/TTK | Fast, punishing | Slower, forgiving |
| Perspective | First-person | Third-person |
| PvE Opportunities | Minimal | Integrated |
| Solo Play | Difficult, unrewarding | Supported, balanced |
| Crossplay | Unbalanced, problematic | Seamless, inclusive |
| Cheat Prevention | Weak (F2P) | Strong (paid entry) |
| World Design | Functional, sparse | Immersive, lively |
| Revive Mechanics | Quick, but final | Needs improvement |
| Social Features | Functional | Engaging, fun |
| Target Audience | Hardcore | Social/Casual Masses |
Market Impact: Will Delta Force Survive?
The question on everyone’s mind is: can Delta Force survive the migration of its player base to ARC Raiders?
Honestly, ARC Raiders isn’t here to “kill” Delta Force or replace hardcore shooters altogether. Instead, it diversifies the genre. As it attracts casual, solo players, Delta Force could become even more specialized—a niche for the truly hardcore, while ARC Raiders becomes the preferred option for most extraction shooter fans.
Gamers who just want to have fun, unwind, and laugh with friends will transition. Those who love competition and adrenaline will likely stick to Delta Force.
Instead of one game dominating, both will coexist, but ARC Raiders is positioned to dominate mindshare and install bases if it continues to deliver a fun-first experience.
Concluding Words
ARC Raiders is about to steal Delta Force’s thunder not by being a better competitive shooter, but by embracing a bigger, broader audience.
Its slower pace, third-person view, fun mechanics, casual-friendly progression, and vibrant world set it apart in a market oversaturated with “sweaty” games. While there’s room for improvement in the revive system, ARC Raiders already shows strong signals of becoming the new extraction shooter king for the masses.
If you’re tired of never-ending grind, overpowered squads, and punishing matches, ARC Raiders is the game you—and millions more—have been waiting for.
