What Embark Studios does

Embark Studios AB is a Stockholm, Sweden-based for-profit game developer founded in 2018 as a corporate subsidiary of Nexon Co., Ltd., with 251-500 employees and an office in the former Bankpalatset on Kungsträdgårdsgatan. The studio's mission is to blur the line between playing and making games, and it ships two live-service multiplayer titles: THE FINALS, a free-to-play team-based "Dynamism Shooter" with destructible arenas, monetized via cosmetics and seasonal Battle Passes across Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and NVIDIA GeForce NOW; and ARC Raiders, a paid premium PvPvE extraction shooter published by Nexon, which has sold 16M+ copies since its October 30, 2025 launch and surpassed 700,000 concurrent players at launch weekend. ARC Raiders also has a localized Chinese edition in development with Tencent and is monetized via one-time purchase plus cosmetic microtransactions.

Embark builds both titles on Unreal Engine 5 with a custom Angelscript scripting layer, a proprietary CI pipeline (~80K lines of Rust in 'ci.exe') running on Perforce/Buildkite/GCP, and backend services in Go, C++ and Python on Kubernetes/Google Spanner/Redis. Distinctive technology includes ML-driven enemy locomotion trained via reinforcement learning, an aggression-based matchmaking system, a physics-based damage feedback system, and a single-main-branch CI strategy with median presubmit times around 15-20 minutes. AI/ML also powers accessibility-aware anti-cheat (Anybrain partnership), texture synthesis, one-click photogrammetry, and emerging LLM-based data agents for telemetry queries.

Embark earns revenue through premium game sales (ARC Raiders), in-game cosmetics and seasonal Battle Passes (THE FINALS and ARC Raiders live ops), platform-licensed publishing (via Nexon for ARC Raiders), and ancillary streams including peripheral co-branding (Pulsar), regional pricing, and Twitch Drops. Founder/CEO Patrick Söderlund, a former EA/DICE executive, was appointed Nexon Executive Chairman in February 2026, deepening corporate alignment. The company is privately held, does not disclose standalone revenue, and has no other disclosed shareholders.

Name

Embark Studios

Legal name

Embark Studios AB

Website

https://embark-studios.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Embark Studios is a Stockholm-based game developer and Nexon subsidiary that ships live-service multiplayer games — ARC Raiders (premium extraction shooter) and THE FINALS (free-to-play dynamism shooter) — built on Unreal Engine with proprietary ML-driven enemy AI, custom Rust CI tooling, and an Embark ID cross-game account platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Video Games

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy/4X/Management Game Studios (MPAFAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Console Platform Publishing & Licensing (First-Party Platform Holder Programs) (MPAFABAD), Mobile & F2P Game Studios (MPAFAAAB)

Keywords

• Video game development
• Live-service multiplayer games
• Extraction shooter games
• Free-to-play games
• Machine learning game AI

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. THE FINALS (Free-to-play with cosmetics & Battle Pass): THE FINALS is a free-to-play 'Dynamism Shooter' monetized through in-game cosmetics, seasonal Battle Passes, and limited-time event rewards; available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and NVIDIA GeForce NOW with cross-play and cross-progression
2. ARC Raiders (Premium one-time purchase with cosmetic microtransactions): ARC Raiders is sold as a one-time premium purchase (published by Nexon), generating over $100M in its first week, with 16M+ units sold total and 4.6M in Q1 2026; supplements revenue with cosmetic skins/outfits, Twitch Drops, and in-game store rotations; live-service content updates every ~3 weeks
3. Cosmetics, Battle Passes and in-game events (live ops): Recurring revenue from paid cosmetic sets (e.g., Castaway Outfit, Rachetta Set, Solare Set), Raider Deck cosmetics, Twitch Drops campaigns, limited-time events (Last Resort, Forgotten Relics), and seasonal content drops; regional pricing adjustments to optimize revenue per geography
4. Branded peripheral collaboration revenue (Pulsar x THE FINALS): Pulsar released co-branded THE FINALS-themed mice, mousepads, and skins timed with the Grand Major tournament at DreamHack Stockholm; revenues shared between Embark and Pulsar under licensing/collaboration

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Embark Studios develops and publishes live-service multiplayer video games for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and cloud streaming platforms. Its two flagship titles are THE FINALS, a free-to-play team-based 'Dynamism Shooter' with destructible arenas, and ARC Raiders, a premium paid PvPvE extraction shooter. Both games are unified through the Embark ID cross-game account platform and monetized via in-game cosmetics, seasonal Battle Passes, and a global publishing partnership with Nexon.

Product overview

Embark Studios is a single-vendor game studio offering a portfolio of two live-service multiplayer games unified by a shared identity platform. Its flagship titles are ARC Raiders, a PvPvE extraction shooter published by Nexon, and THE FINALS, a free-to-play team-based "Dynamism Shooter"; both are built on Unreal Engine with shared backend services and tied together through the Embark ID account portal that enables cross-game rewards, sign-in, and player support. Beyond the shipped games, Embark maintains a research practice (machine learning, procedural generation, AI-powered animation, photogrammetry, Rust tooling) whose findings feed back into ARC Raiders and THE FINALS rather than being sold as standalone products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• THE FINALS: Free-to-play dynamism shooter developed and published by Embark Studios, available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
• ARC Raiders
• Embark ID

Products and services

• ARC Raiders ARC Raiders is a premium paid multiplayer extraction adventure developed by Embark Studios and published by Nexon. Players enlist as Raiders to scavenge a lethal future Earth ravaged by mechanized ARC threats in PvPvE extraction gameplay on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with cross-play, NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, RTXGI, AMD FSR, and Sony PSSR on PS5 Pro.
• THE FINALS THE FINALS is a free-to-play team-based Dynamism Shooter where players compete in destructible virtual arenas, alter and exploit the environment, and battle through escalating tournaments on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and NVIDIA GeForce NOW, with cross-play and cross-progression.
• Embark ID Embark ID is Embark Studios' cross-game account and identity portal that lets players sign in to THE FINALS and ARC Raiders using an Embark ID or third-party platform logins, enabling cross-game rewards such as unlocking a free ARC Raiders outfit for playing THE FINALS, and providing unified player support.

Quantifiable outcome

• ARC Raiders sold 16M+ copies worldwide with 4.6M units in Q1 2026
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

AI capability14 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• TencentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2026Embark Studios is developing a Chinese version of ARC Raiders in partnership with Tencent, including exclusive PvE-focused map conditions ('Rebellion Incident', 'Double King/Queen'), healing/acid grenades, 'Safe Zone' and 'Dual Boss' conditions. Nexon plans to launch ARC Raiders in China after obtaining an ISBN license; the partnership enables localized Chinese-market publishing.
• Pocket Gamer / Steel Media (PG Connects Summit SF)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 March 2026Embark Studios spoke at the Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco held during GDC week (March 9, 2026) which hosted 500+ companies from 52 countries. Embark is listed among speakers alongside Meta, Scopely, Discord, Tencent, SYBO, Sensor Tower.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 27 January 2026NVIDIA released a GeForce Game Ready Driver (591.86 WHQL) optimized for the ARC Raiders: Headwinds Update enabling DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, NVIDIA Reflex, and RTXGI. ARC Raiders is supported on GeForce NOW cloud streaming platform; THE FINALS also runs on GeForce NOW.
• PulsarminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 December 2025Pulsar announced a collaboration with Embark Studios to release a range of THE FINALS-themed peripherals (mice, mousepads, skins) timed with the Grand Major tournament at DreamHack Stockholm. Prices listed in USD and EUR.
• Epic Games (Unreal Engine)flagshipTechnology or IntegrationEmbark Studios builds both ARC Raiders and THE FINALS on Unreal Engine, using C++, Blueprints and a custom Angelscript scripting layer. Embark also published an open-source Angelscript test framework; Unreal logo is displayed as THE FINALS technology partner.
• Valve (Steam)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSteam distributes THE FINALS (free-to-play, app id 2073850) and ARC Raiders; Embark's CI pipeline uses steamcmd.exe to publish builds to Steam with deployment taking 20-40 minutes depending on platform.
• Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEmbark ships THE FINALS and ARC Raiders to PlayStation 5 (with a free PS5 Pro upgrade using Sony's PSSR upscaling technology). Embark's release pipeline supports PlayStation 5 Store deployment and console certification processes.
• Microsoft (Xbox)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTHE FINALS and ARC Raiders are distributed on Xbox Series X|S; THE FINALS is also available on Xbox Game Pass (catalog id 9pgd71cmds0z). Embark's CI pipeline builds WinGDK clients and submits to Xbox certification.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)coreTechnology or IntegrationEmbark Studios runs its live-service backend (player progression, social interaction, game orchestration, monetization, authentication) on Google Cloud Platform using Kubernetes, Google Spanner (SQL), Redis, Bazel, and Terraform; Embark ID/recruitment data stored on AWS.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Splash Damage: Splash Damage is a UK-based multiplayer-focused studio (Dirty Bomb, Gears Tactics, Hyenas co-dev) with comparable headcount and live-service multiplayer DNA to Embark, serving as a European peer at similar scale.
• Arrowhead Game Studios: Arrowhead (Sony-owned) shipped Helldivers 2, a co-op PvE shooter that, like ARC Raiders, blends PvE and PvP against AI-controlled enemies and competes for the same live-service shooter audience. Similar studio scale and parent-publisher dynamic (Sony vs. Nexon).
• Respawn Entertainment: Respawn (EA-owned) develops Apex Legends, a live-service multiplayer FPS that directly competes with THE FINALS. Like Embark, Respawn operates as an independently-managed studio under a large publisher parent, with strong technical culture and award-winning titles.
• Bungie: Bungie (Sony-owned) develops Marathon, a PvPvE extraction shooter directly competing with ARC Raiders, and Destiny 2, a live-service FPS. Both studios are Sony/Nexon-aligned AAA live-service multiplayer developers operating at similar scale.
• Riot Games: Riot (Tencent-owned) ships Valorant, a live-service competitive multiplayer FPS that competes directly with THE FINALS for the hero-shooter audience. Both are wholly-owned subsidiaries of major publishers (Nexon/Tencent respectively) operating global live-service games.
• Battlestate Games: Battlestate develops Escape from Tarkov, the original hardcore extraction shooter and ARC Raiders' primary genre benchmark. Both titles compete for the same niche PvPvE extraction audience despite different design philosophies (hardcore vs. approachable).
• Digital Extremes: Digital Extremes (Tencent-owned) develops Warframe, a long-running live-service PvE-focused multiplayer game. Both studios operate ongoing live-service titles with strong community programs and free-to-play monetization models.
• Crytek: Crytek develops Hunt: Showdown, a PvPvE extraction shooter that is one of ARC Raiders' closest genre competitors. Both studios are European-based (Crytek in Germany vs. Embark in Sweden) building live-service extraction titles with cross-play.

Broad incumbents

• Larian Studios: Larian is a European-headquartered (Belgium) independent AAA studio with a single mega-hit title (Baldur's Gate 3) analogous to Embark's ARC Raiders breakout. Both studios redefined expectations for mid-tier European AAA development.

Emerging players

• Ironmace: Ironmace develops Dark and Darker, an emerging PvPvE extraction title that overlaps with ARC Raiders in player base and core mechanics. A smaller, earlier-stage competitor but highly relevant for genre share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/embarkstudios
• GitHubgithub.com/embarkstudios
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/embark-studios-ab
• Instagraminstagram.com/embark.studios

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Embark Studios