ARC Raiders’ Entire 3D Content Was Made by a Team of Around 20 People, with Tools to Create Scenes in as Little as 20 Minutes

Why It Matters

The approach demonstrates that small, well‑equipped teams can deliver AAA‑level 3D worlds quickly, reshaping cost structures and timelines in game development. It signals a shift toward tool‑driven pipelines that empower rapid content iteration for live‑service titles.

Key Takeaways

• 20‑person team built ARC Raiders’ 3D world at launch
• Tools generate landscape scenes in as little as 20 minutes
• RealityScan captured 120,000 photos for high‑resolution 3D data
• Auto‑placement systems reduce manual asset placement bottlenecks

Pulse Analysis

Embark Studios’ presentation at the Nexon Developers Conference highlighted a paradigm shift in game production: leveraging a compact, 20‑person team to create the expansive 3D world of ARC Raiders. By investing in purpose‑built tools, the studio sidestepped traditional bottlenecks that typically require large art departments. The core of this strategy is a custom landscape library that functions like a private Google Earth, feeding real‑world terrain data directly into the engine. Coupled with RealityScan—an imaging system that transformed roughly 120,000 photographs into high‑resolution 3D models—the pipeline delivers game‑ready assets with unprecedented speed.

The technical art pipeline further accelerates development through automated processes. Low‑poly nature elements are generated from high‑resolution scans, while auto‑placement scripts populate scenes with grass, pebbles, and other details at the click of a button. For architecture, simple geometric primitives are enriched via data sockets that attach damage zones, cables, and vegetation, turning a basic box into a fully interactive structure in a few hours. This modular approach not only trims production time but also ensures consistency across live‑service updates, allowing the expanded team to roll out new content without re‑engineering foundational assets.

Industry observers see Embark’s methodology as a blueprint for the future of AAA and live‑service game development. By compressing the asset creation timeline, studios can allocate more resources to gameplay innovation and player engagement, while reducing overhead costs associated with large art teams. The success of ARC Raiders suggests that other developers may adopt similar tool‑centric pipelines, fostering a more agile ecosystem where high‑quality 3D environments are no longer exclusive to massive studios. This evolution could accelerate the pace of content delivery across the gaming sector, benefiting both creators and players alike.