Embark Studios has shared new details about the technology powering Arc Raiders, revealing the enormous scale of data collected while the game was at its peak popularity.
During a presentation at publisher Nexon’s developer conference, the studio explained that its backend systems were processing more than 100 billion gameplay events every day, generating roughly 30 terabytes of data daily. The goal wasn’t simply to collect statistics—it was to better understand player behavior, improve matchmaking, detect cheating, and fine-tune gameplay.
The presentation, delivered by Embark data engineer Mattias Andersson, offered one of the most detailed looks yet at the studio’s analytics pipeline.
According to Andersson, the system is capable of tracking virtually every bullet fired in the game, with data becoming searchable in Google’s BigQuery platform in under two seconds. The presentation was first reported by GamesRadar+.
Embark tracked every bullet fired during Arc Raiders’ busiest months
Explaining the scale of the system, Andersson said the studio monitors more than 1,000 different gameplay event types across its multiplayer titles, including Arc Raiders and The Finals.
“We track every bullet in these games. We track where the players are. We track whenever a bullet hits something,”
Andersson said during the presentation.
“We’re tracking more than 1,000 different event types. We were tracking more than 100 billion events per day when Arc Raiders was at its peak. That is 30 terabytes of data per day.”
He added that the information reaches Google’s BigQuery service with less than two seconds of latency, allowing developers to quickly analyze gameplay.
“So as soon as you fire a bullet, two seconds later, I can run a query in BigQuery and find out if you hit or not.”
According to Steam player data, Arc Raiders reached its highest player counts between late 2025 and early 2026, surpassing 400,000 concurrent players on Steam before player numbers gradually declined. Despite that drop, the game continues to remain among Steam’s most-played multiplayer titles.
Massive data collection supports matchmaking, balancing, and anti-cheat
Embark says the analytics system serves several practical purposes beyond gathering statistics. The collected information helps developers identify bugs, monitor weapon performance, improve balance updates, and strengthen anti-cheat measures.
One of the more interesting uses involves matchmaking. Rather than grouping players solely by skill, Arc Raiders also analyzes how aggressively players behave during matches.
“We try to find out how aggressive a player you are. We want to know who shot first in any encounter. Who was the one who started shooting at the other player? Then we try to make sure that people who want to PvP a lot get matched with others who PvP a lot, while more friendly players get grouped together.”
Earlier this year, Arc Raiders game director Virgil Watkins also discussed this behavior-based system during an interview with GamesRadar+. Watkins clarified that while the game can determine who initiated a fight and who dealt damage, it does not attempt to understand a player’s intentions.
“We can track who shoots first and who takes damage. But the one thing the system does not do is attempt to assume intent.”
Beyond raw statistics, Embark has built internal visualization tools that allow developers to replay matches and study player movement. The system includes replay maps, movement tracking, death heatmaps, and voxel-based visualizations that highlight areas where players frequently engage in combat or get eliminated.
These tools provide the development team with a clearer understanding of how players interact with Arc Raiders’ environments, making it easier to identify problematic locations, rebalance maps, and improve the multiplayer experience.
| Release Date | February 14, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Vertigo Games |
