Arc Raiders Won’t Add “Novelty” Skins To Protect Game’s Visual Identity

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If you were worried Arc Raiders might include silly costumes like those sometimes seen in Call of Duty, you can relax. The developers at Embark Studios have stated they currently have no plans to add those types of cosmetic items to the game.

Virgil Watkins, the game’s design director, explained to PCGamesN on October 30th that they’re avoiding adding comical character skins because they believe it would harm the game’s carefully crafted artistic style.

Watkins stated that they plan to keep the current visual style. This style will align with their overall artistic vision and feel consistent within the story’s world and narrative.

Arc Raiders won’t completely rule out fun, unique character skins, but don’t expect to see direct copies of famous people like Ronald McDonald. According to the developers at Embark Studios, if they do add inspired skins, they’ll focus on a character’s color scheme or general style, rather than a literal recreation of a celebrity. That means you likely won’t see skins based on specific personalities like Nicki Minaj or Snoop Dogg.

Watkins explained that while they won’t be creating a traditional Santa Claus outfit, they might design something with a similar feel that fits the game’s style. It’s not a commitment to a Santa costume at all, but rather a consideration of exploring that general theme. They’re very careful about adding anything to the game that doesn’t match its established look, mood, and world. Since the game relies so heavily on its unique atmosphere, they don’t want to disrupt it with something out of place – like a T-Rex costume, for example – even if it seems momentarily fun. They believe maintaining consistency is more important than a short-lived novelty.

While it would be funny to see characters like Santa Claus, a T-Rex, or Sabrina Carpenter using powerful weapons in the game, it doesn’t really match the overall style we’re going for. We might consider something like that down the road, but we aren’t planning any unusual character skins like that right now.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about unusual and comical character skins in shooting games like Battlefield and Call of Duty. Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty, acknowledged that the games might have become too focused on these silly designs and announced that players won’t be able to use their outlandish skins from the current game, Black Ops 6, in the next installment, Black Ops 7. EA, the company behind Battlefield, responded by saying that the next Battlefield game, Battlefield 6, will feature more realistic and fitting character appearances instead of a large collection of out-of-place costumes.

Arc Raiders became available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 30th and is currently very popular, with over 354,000 players online at the same time, according to SteamDB. The game’s developer, Embark Studios, has now shared plans for the next two months, including new maps, community events, and quests.

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2025-11-03 22:39