News Tag: Arc Raiders Vs Marathon

The long-awaited Marathon has finally been released, drawing reactions ranging from eager anticipation to outright dismissal.

Even before its launch, some players predicted it would be ARC Raiders' biggest competitor in 2026. Detractors went so far as to label it the next Concord. So, can it truly rival ARC Raiders? Let's set aside any bias and compare them purely from a gameplay perspective.

Gameplay Mechanics

First, let's clarify that both games fall into the currently popular extraction shooter genre, but their focuses differ significantly.

ARC Raiders significantly simplifies its gameplay, making it feel quite approachable. Players can even experience pure PvE content, cooperating with strangers, creating a sort of post-apocalyptic utopia. You could almost let your grandmother play this game. Of course, PvP exists as well, but experiencing it is entirely optional. This accessibility is a key part of its broad appeal.

Marathon's positioning is the polar opposite. While it also represents an attempt to simplify and make the extraction shooter genre more accessible, its core is combat, above all else. You might want to steer your grandmother away from the computer for this one; she probably wouldn't enjoy Marathon.

Although Marathon recently added a proximity chat feature, it's rarely used. You need to hear gunfire, and other players are often more interested in saying hello after eliminating you. This creates a vastly different environment from ARC Raiders, where communication can sometimes avert conflict entirely.

Does this mean Marathon is inferior? Not at all. It simply highlights that the two games foster completely different player environments. You can choose the one you prefer, which is ultimately good for players.

PvE Design

Like ARC Raiders, Marathon is a PvPvE game, meaning you fight not only other players but also expend ammunition and resources against NPC enemies. Both games excel in their PvE design, making them worthwhile experiences.

ARC Raiders features enemy designs that are both uniquely threatening and a constant consideration for players.

The robots in Marathon are equally lethal. They are accurate shots, some excel at stealth, making them nearly as challenging to deal with as human players.

However, since both games are still in development, a common drawback is the limited number of maps. Whoever develops faster will be able to address this weakness sooner.

PvP Combat

Marathon's gunplay is exceptionally well-crafted. Its weapon designs are sleek, animations fluid, and the art style blends gritty realism with sci-fi flair. The first-person camera perspective enhances the immersion during firefights.

ARC Raiders' third-person perspective allows you to admire your character's customization and provides better situational awareness. However, this same third-person camera can make combat feel clunky and create a sense of detachment, sometimes encouraging corner-camping strategies.

The tactile feel of aiming down sights in Marathon's first-person view is unparalleled, especially when wielding a high-quality weapon. It genuinely feels like it gives you an edge.

Both games feature excellent PvP and PvE mechanics. If you're less focused on pure shooting and combat, preferring a slower-paced, more relaxed experience, ARC Raiders might be for you. If you want a shooter centered on combat, you'll likely find Marathon more engaging.

Art Style

Although Marathon's visuals have sparked some debate among players, from an artistic standpoint, both games are exceptionally strong.

ARC Raiders evokes a late 20th-century, post-apocalyptic wasteland atmosphere. Players scavenge ruins for weapons and ARC Raiders blueprints left after the apocalypse, piecing together the story of the lost civilization through item descriptions.

Marathon, in contrast, is vibrant and far more sci-fi. Perhaps drawing from cyberpunk aesthetics, it also feels more oppressive. You confront terrifying, violent robots amidst cheerful colors – a world view that will undoubtedly captivate some players.

UI And Tutorials

Based on the above, you might think the games are fairly even. However, that's not entirely the case. There are reasons why Marathon might lag behind ARC Raiders, and its poor UI and tutorial design are likely primary factors for player drop-off, as they are the first things players encounter.

Marathon's tutorial feels hastily assembled. As you try to listen to the voice in your head explaining how to use abilities, enemies swarm you. New players are often overwhelmed and killed before they can learn the basics, which is undeniably frustrating.

Marathon's main menu is overly complex, making it difficult to find what you're looking for. Items are largely lumped together; they look sci-fi, but their pixelated icons offer little clue to their function. You struggle to figure out how to move items to storage or even which healing item you're using.

New players hoping to enjoy Marathon may need to take hours grappling with its unintuitive interface before understanding how things work. This falls far short of ARC Raiders' clean and intuitive UI design.

As it stands, Marathon is unlikely to threaten ARC Raiders' position. However, this doesn't make it a bad game. In reality, it's just a few refinements away from being excellent. It will be interesting to see how both titles evolve in the future.

Since its release on October 30, 2025, ARC Raiders has created a new wave in the first-person shooter genre, leaving other classic shooter series struggling to compete with its new installments.

However, the market is never short of new games, and ARC Raiders is not without its flaws. Therefore, the new first-person shooter Marathon, scheduled for release on March 5, 2026, may pose a challenge to ARC Raiders.

Based on this, we will analyze the playability and strengths of both games to determine whether Marathon might cause a loss of ARC Raiders players.

Basic gameplay of the two games

If you've chosen to read this article, you're probably already familiar with ARC Raiders. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth invaded by alien ARC bots. Your task is to travel from underground to the surface, defeat the bots and other enemies to obtain loot.

Building upon this foundation, ARC Raiders has expanded to include multiple maps and map events, a vast item system, and other content, providing a rich gaming experience with its PvPvE gameplay.

While Marathon hasn't officially launched yet, it released a closed technical alpha test in October 2025. It's also a multiplayer extraction-style PvPvE shooter with an alien setting, but the main battleground is located on an alien planet called Tau Ceti IV.

The gameplay of the two games is quite similar: both involve scavenging for loot in a shared environment and trying to extract before being eliminated by enemy players or PvE enemies. Both also offer solo, duo, and trio team modes.

Does Marathon have any advantages?

Based on the introduction and analysis of the basic gameplay of the two games, they are very similar. The main difference lies in the player's perspective: ARC Raiders is third-person, while Marathon is first-person.

Of course, neither is inherently superior, but as a player, you might have your own preferences, and consuming too much time in the third-person perspective of ARC Raiders might make you want to try a new view.

In fact, ARC Raiders players recently discovered a bug that allowed a brief experience of first-person combat.

Although the developers quickly fixed it, and the experience was quite rough, it still sparked heated discussion within the player community. This clearly demonstrates a strong desire for a completely new perspective.

Whether ARC Raiders plans to release a first-person mode later, it's unlikely to happen before Marathon's release - assuming the latter isn't delayed.

In this sense, at least for a while after Marathon's release, some players focused on extraction shooters will probably shift their attention to Marathon. And if they find Marathon to have greater potential in the short term, they might temporarily abandon ARC Raiders.

Another crucial point is that Marathon isn't a completely new game like ARC Raiders; it has a predecessor, Marathon Infinity, and a complete series, albeit one whose initial release was at the end of the last century.

This very fact means that a group of longtime fans and retro enthusiasts will inevitably pay more attention to 2026 version of Marathon.

Furthermore, ARC Raiders' use of AI for character voice acting caused considerable controversy within the industry and among players, while Marathon has announced a stellar voice actor lineup.

This means that many shooter fans who abandoned ARC Raiders due to AI controversy will probably choose to support Marathon. It's hard to say whether this is a unique kind of competitive strategy employed by Marathon.

ARC Raiders shows no signs of decline

Despite listing many of Marathon's strengths, this doesn't mean ARC Raiders is entirely without merit. While the game does have its shortcomings, its core gameplay remains very enjoyable.

Building on this, ARC Raiders plans to release a new update soon, likely including new maps, map events, and other activities, similar to Cold Snap update that ended on January 13th.

If the update is well-received, ARC Raiders should see a steady stream of new content releases in the first half of 2026. Combined with measures to combat cheaters and other improvements, this should keep players engaged.

More importantly, while the lack of a first-person perspective might seem like a disadvantage for ARC Raiders, Marathon also lacks a third-person view, which can actually enhance interactivity and cooperation.

Both ARC Raiders and Marathon are essentially PvPvE games, and players seem to prioritize PvP elements. However, based on previous testing, it appears that defeating enemies in Marathon doesn't require any teamwork.

Furthermore, ARC Raiders' unique PvE enemy design is one of its charms, and the development team is likely to add more ARC bots in the future. In comparison, Marathon's PvE elements and mechanics appear relatively weak.

Summary

Since Marathon hasn't officially launched yet, and ARC Raiders is still under development and improvement, we can't definitively say which is better, especially since most games have their merits.

However, it's certain that if Marathon launches as scheduled in March, it will siphon off a number of players who were originally focused solely on ARC Raiders, as the first-person perspective is undeniably appealing.

Many casual players have long hoped that ARC Raiders would add a dedicated PvE mode, or at least further enhance its PvE elements, but this hasn't happened yet.

If Marathon, based on player feedback after its testing phase, refines and enhances its PvE gameplay, ARC Raiders' sense of crisis will probably intensify.

However, ARC Raiders might also seize this opportunity to respond to players more quickly before Marathon's launch, striving to prevent this potentially powerful competitor from attracting too many players.

In any case, for you as a player, the emergence of more games not only means more choices but also that healthy competition will drive these games to improve, bringing you an ever-evolving gaming experience!